Into the Dragon's Den
by breadmakesyoufat
Summary: A small boy has stolen some very important blueprints from the Kingdom of Aquios, and the Queen wants them back. It's up to Nel and Albel to survive in an uncharted dragon nesting ground and retrieve the blueprints. AlbelNel
1. A Suicide Mission

**Chapter 1**

**A Suicide Mission**

It's been 3 months since they had defeated Luther.

After his defeat, most of the party members had gone their separate ways, only to be called back together 3 months later by none other then, Clair.

Fayt, Maria, Sophia, Cliff, Mirage, and Nel all showed up for a meeting in the conference room shortly after word got out that they were needed in Arias. Albel had been called too, but naturally he didn't think he should grace them all with his presence.

Once they (excluding Albel) were all seated around the large table, Clair told them of the situation.

A small boy from the Kingdom of Aquios had run away from the castle a few days ago. He was just a normal child of 12 years, but before the boy had fled, he had stolen some blueprints for Aquios' backup weapon supply, as unlikely as it sounded.

-"But why would the kid steal those blueprints? I doubt he was old enough to realize what he had when he got his hands on them." Fayt interrupted.

-"We did some research on this child's record once we got an idea of what he looked like from some of the villagers. His family does live in Aquarian territory and we located his home and family. He has two younger sisters and a mother, the father had died as a soldier in the war between Airyglyph and Aquios. After speaking with the mother for awhile, we could tell that she was very sick and that she was having a hard time finding food for her family."

Clair sighed and closed her eyes. "We are to assume that the boy, Michael, stole the blueprints, thinking he could sell them elsewhere for a high sum of fol and get his mother help for her disease." She opened her eyes and looked at each of the people who were sitting around the table. "I know that this isn't your problem, and I know that you're not obligated to help us but..." She glanced back at Cliff and Fayt. "I know what all of you are capable of, and I wouldn't put it past you to be able to find this boy and bring him back to us."

The room went silent, for a minute, then Cliff broke the silence by punching his two hands together.

-"No problem-o! We'll find the kid for ya, don't sweat it."

Clair looked to everyone else and saw that they were all smiling in agreement. Clair closed her eyes and smiled. _'I knew I could count on these guys...'_

-"There's still one thing I don't understand Clair." All heads turned to Nel.

-"What is it?"

-"Why do we need Albel the Wicked to come with us? It's not like we're trying to assassinate the kid or anything, and it shouldn't be that hard to track him down." Nel stated and crossed her arms as if she had proven her point.

Sure the war between Airyglyph and Aquios was over, and Albel had proven to be a useful ally against Luther, but Nel still didn't like that man. He gave her the chills by just looking at her! No way was she going to let him tag along and annoy her to death unless there was a damn good reason for it.

Clair smiled. "That question brings us to the second installment of this mess." Nel uncrossed her arms and waited for an explanation. "We got a report this morning that a civilian had spotted a small boy run into a uncharted cave off to the west of Airyglyph. I sent a few of our men into the cave to look for him, but they fled from it only an hour upon venturing in." Clair sighed and flicked a dew bangs out of her eyes. "They were all suffering from severe flesh wounds and had some terrible burns all over their bodies."

Sophia gasped. "You don't mean..."

-"Dragons." Nel muttered more to herself then anyone else.

-"Yes, that's right. It seems that the cave is in fact a nesting ground for some dragons. That is why I wanted Albel Nox to accompany you. I'm sure he is much more experienced with dragons then the average soldier."

Everyone sighed. Yes, this was indeed going to make things a lot more difficult.

-"So now we're not only trying to find the boy, Michael, who has the blueprints, but now we also need to protect him from the dragons that reside in that cave?" Mirage spoke up, stating the obvious.

-"Yeah, protect him unless he's already been reduced to a pile of-" Fayt said but cut off when Maria elbowed him in the side, whispering a harsh:

-"Don't even go there Fayt!"

Nel was still lost in the ranting of her own thoughts. _'I guess this means we're going to have to bring Nox with us.'_ She sighed. _'Apris save me...'_

-"So," Clair said loudly, once again gaining silence all around the table. "I have stationed two of our soldiers at each of the exits from the cave so if Michael gets out by himself, we'll have him. I've also got a doctor at the entrance and each of the exits in case any of you need immediate healing."

Everyone nodded and stood up after Clair. She saluted them and led them out of the conference room. Once outside, she led them all to a horse drawn carriage.

-"Tynane and Farleen will be transporting you all to the cave's entrance, please climb in."

Fayt, Sophia, Mirage, Cliff, and Maria all got into the large carriage. Nel was about to climb in after Maria but Clair held her back.

-"Nel, I need you to go and get Albel Nox for me."

Nel sighed. "Any why, may I ask, are you asking me to go get him by myself?"

-"Well, because you seem to be the only person among all you friends that stands up to him. You may not realize it, but Albel listens to you." Nel snorted. "No, listen to me! He's never easy to convince about anything, but he does give in sometimes, and that's usually when you ask him."

Nel closed her eyes in frustration. "Clair, you're asking me to go on a suicide mission." she said calmly. Clair smiled.

-"It's not a suicide mission. I know he wouldn't hurt you...Don't look at me like that Nel! You've been on missions that were loads more dangerous than this! I'll even get a soldier to accompany you, and then he'll lead you and Albel to the cave. Okay?"

Nel glared at her friend. "No, it's not okay, but I'll do this anyways. You're gonna owe me big when I get back."

Clair smiled and patted Nel on the back. "Excuse me." she called and waved to a soldier who was standing nearby. He hurried over to her.

-"Yes ma'am?"

-"I'd like you to accompany Lady Nel to Airyglyph's headquarters to get Albel Nox. Once he is in you company, please escort them both to the dragon's nesting grounds we found this morning. That will be all." Clair said and saluted the soldier.

-"Yes Lady Clair." the soldier saluted.

Clair turned back to Nel and smiled. "Be careful, Nel."

Nel gave her an uneasy look. "Easier said then done." Nel then turned to the soldier and gave him an unenthusiastic wave. "C'mon you, let's get going." She then turned around and started walking in the direction of what she thought was her doom.

-"Y-yes ma'am!" replied the rather confused soldier and quickly caught up to walk beside Nel.

Clair watched her go and sighed. _'I know she'll be just fine. Albel won't let anything happen to her, I know he won't.'_


	2. Albel Nox

**Chapter 2**

**Albel Nox**

Nel didn't even bother trying to strike up a conversation with the soldier that walked alongside her all the way to Airyglyph. They hadn't run into very many monsters on the way to the castle, and when they had, Nel had ended up doing close to all of the fighting!

-"Some soldier you turned out to be." she had spat at him once she landed on the ground from a finishing blow and swiftly placed her daggers back in her side pouch, a dead monster falling to the ground behind her, making her hair fly around her face in the gust of air that followed.

The soldier had instantly peaked out from behind his shield and tried to defend his pride, not that Nel was listening to his blubbering, her thoughts were elsewhere. _'At least Albel is more useful in battle then this all-powerful-soldier-of-Aquios!...Waidaminute. He's the enemy! Well, not anymore really...but still! I can't loose my edge on him, or he'll probably slice me to shreds...'_ She grimaced at the thought.

The two of them got to the Airyglyph castle and strolled in soon after, Nel getting more and more tense by the second. _'Oh Apris, I don't want to be here...'_

-"Um, Lady Nel?"

She turned to see the soldier standing behind her. "Yeah, what now?" she asked, irritated. Nel had had quite enough of this man, and she wouldn't be too upset if he suddenly disappeared and reappeared on the moon.

-"I was just thinking, maybe I should stay here and wait for you..." he trailed off, seeing Nel turn on her 'Oh-my-gosh-you're-annoying-me' face. She sighed.

-"Yeah, okay. You stay here while I venture off into a hell hole to retrieve Satan himself and face off against certain death, sounds like a plan to me. Next time you get a bright idea, make sure the whole Kingdom hears what you've got to say." Nel snapped and turned back around in a huff and took a step down the corridor before turning and facing the confused soldier once again. "And I order you to watch that pebble very closely, it looks like it's up to no good." she added, pointing to a very small stone that was beside the soldier's shoe. Nel was having a crap day, you couldn't blame her for messing around with the soldier's brain a little...

The soldier looked blankly down at the little stone that was sitting innocently beside his boot. He then gave the pebble a fierce look and drew his sword with one swift motion, pointing it's tip at the stone.

Nel turned around again so the soldier couldn't see her chuckle to herself and started walking down the castle's corridor.

She turned the corner to go to the King's Throne Room and collided with someone. She gave out a startled gasp and almost fell backwards, luckily the person she had bumped into grabbed her wrist and stopped her from falling. The thing was, the hand was made of metal and it's fingers resembled claws.

Nel's head shot up and she came face-to-face with none other then Albel Nox. Both her and his eyes widened.

-"You!" they both exclaimed in unison and Albel quickly let go her wrist, as if it was poisonous.

-"What are you doing here!" Nel exclaimed without thinking and instantly regretted it. Albel smirked.

-"I live here, fool. Unless you forgot that little fact."

Nel glared at him. _'Oh how I hate your guts...'_ "I know that. I came here to get you. You're coming on a mission with me so let's go." Nel muttered and turned to leave, only to be jerked back when Albel grabbed one end of her scarf, nearly choking her.

-"Slow down maggot. What did you say?"

Nel yanked her scarf out of his hand and adjusted it around her neck so it was loose again. "I said 'You-are-coming-on-a-mission-with-me-so-let's-go'!" she spat out and started walking away from him again, only to be yanked back yet again as Albel pulled on her scarf.

-"That's what I thought you said. And why exactly do you think I would be going on a mission? With you none the less?"

Nel retrieved her scarf and quickly explained the situation to Albel, except she replaced the blueprints with an all powerful amulet so he wouldn't find out that he's actually helping her retrieve blueprints for weapons that might be used against him some day in the future. She knew that he'd eventually find out, but that wouldn't happen until they were knee deep in dragons and he wouldn't have any choice but to help her. _'Who's the fool now, eh?'_ she thought to herself smugly.

When she was done, she saw that there was the smallest of smiles on his face.

-"Let me get this straight. You need _my_ help to find some under aged, amulet stealing, little maggot, because of some little dragons that are standing in between you and him?"

Nel huffed and brushed her bangs out of her eyes. "Basically."

Albel's smirk widened. "So, the Aquarian scum is calling for help from the enemy. How predictable."

That was the end of the line.

-"Look here Nox," Nel snapped impatiently, wiping the smile off Albel's face. "We are no longer enemies. And we're not asking your whole army for help, just you." Albel snorted and crossed his arms over his chest. "Now you listen up and you listen good. I don't like you anymore then the dragons in this uncharted cave we gotta go into," Albel muttered a "Likewise." under his breath but Nel chose to ignore it. "But I still respect you as someone who I fought alongside against Luther 3 months ago, and I know that you understand dragons a lot better then I could ever hope to..." Albel looked her in the eyes, speechless. "I just want you to help me out this once, just this one, and then I'll make sure we stay as far apart from each other for as long as you want. Deal?"

Nel put out her right hand and gave him a determinated look. Albel observed her for a moment before reaching out with his good hand and shaking hers.

-"Deal."

Nel smiled in victory. They broke hands and simply looked at each other for a few moments before Nel spoke up .

-"We'd better get going. Fayt and the others won't wait forever. You ready?" Albel shrugged.

-"Yeah, let's go...maggot." he added under his breath and walked past Nel and towards the castle entrance way. Nel smirked and followed after him, wondering if her soldier was still watching the suspicious pebble...

**XXX**

Albel and Nel walked to the castle entrance and stopped abruptly when the Aquarian soldier came into view. He was rolling around on the ground with his sword laying a little ways away from him. The soldier was thrashing around as if he was in a life threatening fight with some invisible foe.

Albel leaned in ever so slightly towards Nel. "What the hell is he doing?" he asked in an amused tone. Nel watched the soldier roll around some more and sighed.

-"He's fighting with a pebble." she moaned in embarrassment and walked over to the stressed soldier. Albel smirked and followed after her, a single thought running through his mind: _'Like soldier, like subordinate.'_

The soldier didn't see Nel coming and rolled towards her, fidgeting with the pebble that had found it's way to the middle of his metal chest plate. Nel lifted her right foot and placed it down on the soldier's chest as he rolled under her foot. He stared up at her blankly as Nel leaned her elbow down on her right knee and stared right back at him.

Albel came up beside Nel so his feet were beside the soldier's head and stared down at him as Nel spoke.

-"What so you think you're doing exactly?" she asked and tried her best to keep a straight face. The soldier stuttered for words, thinking he was in some kind of trouble with his superior.

-"Well, uh...I was doing like you told me! I did watch that pebble, just like you ordered me to, and then it just attacked! I couldn't defend myself and it-"

-"Soldier, were talking about a pebble here, and as far as I know, they don't usually attack people." Nel cut him off and Albel snickered.

-"But Lady Nel! The pebble, it-"

-"It's a _rock_! An _inanimate object_! It doesn't attack people, because _it can't_!" Nel snapped and picked the small rock up off the soldier's chest and threw it over her shoulder. "When I told you to watch the pebble, I was being sarcastic you big oaf. Can't you take a joke!"

The soldier stared up at Nel for a few seconds before frowning. Apparently it took a few seconds to sink in. "That was not a very nice joke, Lady Nel." he said as she lifted her foot off his chest and backed up so he could stand up. Nel shrugged.

-"I didn't think you'd take me seriously enough to try to kill it." Despite all her efforts not to, Nel smiled.

The soldier then noticed that Albel was standing beside him and quickly saluted.

-"A pleasure to meet you Mr. Albel Sir." he said and Albel crossed his arms over his chest, turning away from the soldier.

-"Yeah, yeah. I've heard it all before. Let's just hurry up and get to the 'dragon cave' of yours so we can find this blasted kid and I can get back to my own affairs." he said in his 'I-really-don't-like-you' voice.

-"Ye-yes! Of coarse! Right this way!" the soldier said hurriedly and ran over to retrieve his sword before walking away.

-"Let's go." Nel said and followed after the soldier.

Albel just glared at their Aquarian backs for a moment before deciding that he should follow them.


	3. Venturing In

**Chapter 3**

**Venturing In**

"This is the cave Lady Nel." the soldier said, pointing to a huge hole in the side of a rather high mountain. There were soldiers stationed all the over the area and Nel saw that there was a doctor's tent off to the right of the cave entrance. The only thing that was missing was...

-"Where's Fayt and all the others?" Nel asked a nearby soldier that was standing beside the doctor's tent.

-"All the others have already ventured off into the cave. They said that they didn't want to wait all day for you to get here with Sir Albel." he stated after quickly saluted her and Albel, who was eying some papers on a table a little too closely in the distance.

-"Well that was stupid! The whole reason I went to get Nox here is because we could use his expertise with dragons! So why the hell did they leave without us!" Nel exclaimed, trying very hard not to loose her cool.

-"It's just that they said that there were forks in the road after the entrance, and that they were going to split up into groups to cover more ground faster...a-and I guess they thought you and Sir Albel would be able to take your own path..." the soldier said quickly, hoping that his superior wouldn't lash out at him.

-"That's even more stupid then their first idea! Haven't they ever heard of strength in numbers!" Nel exclaimed and put both her hands flat down on the top of her head in frustration. She then turned and shakily walked over to Albel.

He turned away from the table of papers and strange looking gadgets when Nel came up behind him, hands still on her head and an unreadable look on her face.

-"What's wrong, maggot?" he asked and she sighed, putting her hands down, not even noticing the slightest bit of concern that had leaked out in Albel's voice.

-"Everyone else left without us." she said and placed her hands on her hips.

-"So what? They would've just held me back." Albel said and shrugged.

-"Maybe so, but now they've all slit up to cover more ground and Apris knows what'll happen if any of them run into a dragon."

Albel turned walked around Nel and started for he cave entrance. "Then I guess we'll just have to find that little brat with the amulet so all those fools can get out of there."

Nel stared at his back as he walked away from her. _'Did he sound concerned just then? Sure it was really slight but still...'_

Albel turned around and looked at her. "You've got two legs and heartbeat, so would you hurry up? Fool, I'll leave you behind!" he called to her and turned back around. Nel frowned.

'_Nope. It must of been my imagination.'_ she thought as she quickly jogged to catch up with Albel, who had already made it to the entrance of the dark cave.

**XXX**

A soldier handed Nel an unlit torch as she followed Albel into the cave. They walked down the gravel path of the cave for a few meters before Albel stopped in front of her.

-"Light it now." he ordered and waited with his back still to her. Nel frowned at his rudeness and quickly used her runology to cast a fire ball onto the torch, lighting it instantly. The minuscule light flooded over the cave walls and lit the ground in front of them as Nel moved to stand beside Albel.

-"So, it seems that this is why they slit up." he said.

There were 3 passageways that were spread out over the cave walls, each leading in a different direction. Nel walked to the passage farthest to the right and kneeled down to read what was written in the dirt.

-"Fayt, Sophia, Maria...I guess that means those three went this way."

Albel walked to the middle passageway and read the names on the ground. "Looks like that blonde gorilla and Mirage went this way aswell."

Ignoring his choice of nicknames for Cliff, Nel stood up and walked around Albel and looked down the tunnel that had no names written on the soil in front of it.

"I guess this means we're going down this one." she muttered and kneeled down again. Nel drew her dagger out of it's pouch and carved her name in the earth, then she wrote Albel's under hers. She stood up and placed her dagger back at her side. Albel walked up to her and made a move to take the torch from her hand, but Nel reacted quickly and pulled her hand out of his reach.

-"No way buddy, I'm gonna hold onto this." she said and moved again as Albel made another grab for the torch..

-"Maggot, you'll probably drop it or set someone's clothes on fire. I don't trust you with that thing." Albel growled and swiped at it again, but this time Nel caught his hand instead of moving.

-"Yeah, well I don't trust you at all." Albel gave her a threatening look and bared a few teeth. "And don't try to intimidate me like some kind of dog, because it's never worked on me and it never will." Nel said and let go of his hand.

-"I'll tear you to pieces for talking to me like that!" Albel said and cracked the knuckles in his right hand. Nel snorted.

-"No you won't. Without me around, you've got no fire power, and without that, you've got no light." She then stepped over their earth drawn names and started to walk down the dark cave tunnel.

Albel glared at her back for a few long moments before sighing. "It looks as though I've lost my edge on her..." he muttered softly to himself and started following after her, picking up his pace to catch up to the light source.

Ahead of him, Nel smirked.

She had heard him.


	4. The First Dragon

**Chapter 4**

**The First Dragon**

They had been walking for nearly two uneventful hours now...

Nel and Albel walked down the dark tunnel in silence. Albel had caught up to walk next to Nel after grumbling a promise not to try to take the torch from her again.

Nel was trying to calm her nerves with every trick in the book as she walked next to Albel. Everything about that man unnerved her. The way he walked, talked, just about anything he did annoyed her. And yet, she had managed not to blow up in his face as of yet, how?

'_I must have superpowers.'_ she thought as her eyes darted to Albel yet again, making sure he wasn't doing anything out of the ordinary.

Albel knew that Nel had been eyeing him continuously since they had ventured off into their own tunnel, and it was starting to bug him. He turned his head and looked at Nel, seeing her eyes dart away from him and look straight ahead of her.

-"Why do you keep looking at me, maggot?" Albel spat out and Nel stopped walked. Albel walked a few more steps and turned around, standing in front of her now.

Neither of them seemed to notice that they had entered another room in the cave that had two tunnels veering off in different directions.

-"Because I don't trust anything about you." Nel said and crossed one of her arms across her middle (the other one was holding the torch). Albel sneered.

-"Well I don't trust you either, but you don't see me glancing at you every 10 seconds, do you?" he said.

-"So what if I-" Nel started to protest but Albel suddenly lunged forward and slapped his good hand over her mouth.

-"Shh!" he whispered harshly and quickly grabbed the torch out of Nel's unsuspecting hand. Nel started making some muffled noises of further protest but Albel quickly hushed her again. "Shut up and listen!" he whispered. Nel did.

They were standing at the very entrance of the small room. There were two tunnels leading off in different directions ahead of them. One was closer then the other so they could see down it clearly because of the torch's light, but the other tunnel wasn't nearly as well lit and wouldn't be unless they ventured closer. Not that they would though, considering the strange noise that was coming out of it.

'_What's that noise?...It sounds almost like breathing...'_ Nel wondered.

Albel abruptly took his hand off Nel's mouth. "Do you hear that?" he asked in a whisper. Nel looked up at his face and saw that he looked a little uneasy.

-"Yeah, what is it?"

She watched Albel switch hands that was holding the torch so his claws were free.

-"I think we're about to meet our first dragon." he said and lifted the torch up higher in the air, hoping to get more light into that corner tunnel without having to move any closer.

The light traveled up the far side of the cave's wall and hit the tunnel, lighting it. Nothing was there, but the noise hadn't disappeared.

-"Where is it?" Nel whispered to Albel, trying very hard not to sound as afraid as she was. Nel knew that she could probably beat the snot out of anything that came out of that tunnel, but she didn't like having to fight in the dark, seeing as she preferred being able to see her opponent and know what she was up against before just running into battle.

-"It's in there, it just doesn't want us to know that. It looks like as if it's getting ready to strike..."Albel trailed off, staring intently at the tunnel.

-"How can you tell? You can't even see what's in there." Nel whispered. Albel smirked despite their current situation.

-"You can't see it? Look harder, this dragon has red eyes."

Nel listened to Albel's words and squinted at the dark tunnel. She gasped silently. There was indeed two red eyed staring back at her, almost threateningly. Nel covered her mouth with one hand when she heard a low growl come from the tunnel.

-"Its coming." Albel said grimly and flexed his claws.

-"What are you going to-" Nel stopped in mid sentence when a large scaly object leaped out of the darkness of the tunnel and plunged towards the two.

Albel swiftly turned around and wrapped his clawed arm around Nel's middle before jumping to the right. He landed and quickly jerked his head back around just in time to see the dragon's claws swipe at the very spot where they had been standing only seconds ago.

The dragon was big, very big. It almost filled half the cave they were in and had wings folded tight against it's back. The dragon landed, making the ground shake beneath Albel and Nel's feet, and turned it's head to look at the two humans in the corner. It's red eyed glowed against the light from the torch as the dragon smirked, it's sharp teeth showing.

Despite her pride, Nel found herself latched onto Albel's arm, even after he had let go of her waist. _'How are we going to beat that thing! It's just standing there and we're already practically boxed in!'_ She was forced to let go of Albel's arm when he shoved the still lit torch into one of her hands.

-"When I tell you, I want you to use your Ice Daggers on it."he said and he drew his katana out of it's sheath.

-"But what are you going to-" Nel stuttered.

-"Make sure to aim for it's head, that way if it freezes over, it won't be able to breath fire." Albel added before charging at the dragon.

-"Wait, Albel!" Nel exclaimed and watched him dodge as the dragon swiped at him with it's claws.

Nel watched from the sidelines as Albel slowly wore down the dragon. Attack after attack, Albel's breathing started to get a little more forced as he started to get tiered. _'I've got to end this soon...'_ he thought as he jumped into the air, dodging the dragon's swiping claws, and landed on it's back.

The dragon jerked it's head this way and that, trying to get the human off it's back. Albel grabbed hold of one of the dragon's wings to steady himself as he pulled his katana's sheath off his side. He hastily threw his sword to the ground and lunged at the back of the dragon's head. Albel punched the dragon on one side of it's face, making it turn it's head in that direction while he quickly moved to the opposite side and jammed his sheath into the dragon's mouth, grabbing it with his other hand when it came out the other side of the dragon's mouth.

Albel pulled the sheath towards him so it was jammed in at the back of the dragon's mouth, propping it open, and jerked both his arms sideways, making the dragon reluctantly turn as well.

-"Now! Aim your Ice Daggers for it's mouth!" Albel called to Nel as he forcefully held the dragon's head into position.

Nel had jammed the torch into a pile of rocks a few minutes ago so it was sticking up and still lighting the cave. She gave Albel a quick nod and focused her energy into her hands.

-"Move!" she exclaimed and took carful aim. She could see flames preparing to exit the dragon's mouth and quickly released her Ice Daggers.

Albel, upon recently hearing her demand, pulled his sheath out of the dragon's mouth. The dragon reacted to the sudden freeness and jerked it's head sharply, sending Albel flying off it's back and slamming into the cave wall before quickly turning back and releasing a heavy amount of fire from it's mouth towards Nel.

Nel, who was still emitting daggers of ice out of her hands, chanced a glance at Albel, who was on his knees and folded in two on the ground at the dragon's side, in obvious pain._ 'I guess it's up to me now...'_ she thought and tore her eyes away from Albel.

Fire and Ice met as the two elemental assaults collided. It was a pretty even match at first, but Nel put all she had into her spell, sending ice flowing through the flames and directly into the dragon's open mouth. The flames stopped but Nel continued sending ice at the dragon.

Albel, who had just managed to shakily stand up from the hard tunnel floor, saw what Nel was doing. Gathering up what little energy he had left, Albel ran over to Nel's side and grabbed both her hands firmly.

-"Stop it! You need to save your energy!" he exclaimed and Nel let the spell slide, stopping the flow of ice.

The dragon let out a few choking noises before it's red eyed rolled into it's head and it fell to the ground, making the whole cave shake.

Nel's hands fell to her sides when Albel let go of them.

-"You fool, you need to save your energy for the rest of this cave!" Albel said and watched her carefully, debating on wether or not she was okay. Nel smirked and closed her eyes.

-"Just shut up, Albel..." she muttered before her knees gave out from underneath her. Albel reacted quickly and caught her before she hit the ground. He looked at her face and sighed.

-"The fool went and fainted on me..." he whispered, wondering what he should do next...


	5. The Second Encounter

**Chapter 5**

**The Second Encounter**

'_What's going on...? Why does my head hurt?...'_

Nel slowly opened her eyes. Albel's face was the first thing she saw, followed by the cave ceiling passing by above her. Albel looked down and noticed that she was awake, so he stopped walking and put her down. He had been carrying Nel with one hand around her back and one tucked under her folded knees (a.k.a: Bridal style.), with the ever lit torch in his hand that came out from under her knees.

-"It's about time you woke up! I've been carrying you for nearly half an hour!" he said with false anger. There were some strange things running through Albel's mind just then. They confused him, making him desperately want to cover them up.

He felt this pulling at the side of his mouth, almost as if it wanted to smile, that alone was very out of the ordinary for Albel the Wicked. He had to cross his arms over his chest tightly, because it felt as if they wanted to spring loose and hug Nel half to death. That's even more out of the ordinary then smiling! Biting his lip, he managed to keep all thoughts of being happy Nel was okay to himself..._ **What the hell was going on!**_

These were all things that Albel Nox would never think of doing, and he planned on keeping it that way. Why was he feeling this way all of a sudden? What was the cause? These were all questions Albel couldn't answer, or was afraid to.

Nel held onto her head with one hand, hoping it would ease the pounding of her temples.

-"Don't start with me now, Nox. I'm not in the mood for your smart comments." she said quietly, although it sounded 10 times louder through her ears. Albel watched her frown and rub her temples in circular motions.

-"Are you okay?" he heard himself asking, trying to sound as uninterested as possible.

-"It feels like a million people are going to war in my head, but besides that, yeah, I'm okay." Nel mumbled, sarcasm leaking into her voice.

-"Well, can't you just heal yourself?" Albel asked hesitantly. Nel shook her head..

-"No, I can only heal physical wounds. Even if I could heal this stupid headache, I'm running so low on energy that I'd probably pass out again afterwards." Nel said and looked around for the first time since she'd woken up. "Where are we?" she asked, not recognizing the part of the cave they were standing in.

That's when Albel got a little more of his old self back. "Well, when you decided to have a little nap in the middle of nowhere, I decided that we needed to get out of that area quickly, whether you were asleep or not, in case that dragon had been defending a nest full of those little fire breathing maggots. So, I ended up having to carry you for the last half an hour. I was just lucky that I didn't run into anymore dragons." he paused and uncrossed his arms before adding, "I blame you."

Nel turned on him and put her hands on her hips, resuming a much used pose.

-"You blame me! It wasn't my idea to faint and have you carry me all over the place! You're just blaming it on me to take the heat off yourself!" Nel accused loudly, instantly regretting it because of the pain that punched her in the head afterwards.

Albel opened his mouth to fight back but lost his motivation when he saw Nel holding the side of her head again.

-"Do you want to sit down for a minute before we keep going?" he asked, once again trying to keep the concern out of his voice, and failing.

Nel glanced at him abruptly. _'There it is again! I could've sworn I heard concern in his voice.'_

Albel noticed her look and quickly covered up his previous statement. "Well you're no good to me in battle if you've got a headache, fool!" he said in his normal tone. Nel just looked at him before sitting down on the spot.

-"I guess you're right, but next time I could do without the name calling." she muttered.

Albel crossed his arms over his chest and waited.

Albel waited for 10 minutes, standing beside Nel as she sat on the cold ground and breathed in deeply, trying to regain as much energy as possible in the time given. Neither of them knew what time it was, but they could guess that it was already night fall, judging by how it had recently gotten a lot colder then before.

Nel had grown hungry and tiered but didn't want to say anything, for fear of angering 'Albel the Wicked'. Albel was tapping his fingers on his clawed arm, doing all he could to keep himself from complaining about how much time they were losing or how the kid they were looking for could already be out of the cave and miles away from them.

He looked down at the red head when he heard her stomach growl. Nel's cheeks went a light pink as she wrapped her arms around her middle, trying to drown out the noise. Her stomach rumbled again, and Nel hastily stood up.

-"Well, we should get going now. The sooner we find Michael, the sooner we can get out of here." she said, pretending she hadn't heard anything. "You want me to carry the torch?"

Albel just looked at her. "Only an idiot wouldn't of heard your stomach. I know you're hungry so don't try to cover it up." Nel looked down at the ground, at a loss of words. "I'm hungry too, but there's not much we can do about it, now is there?" Albel continued on. Nel looked back up at him and nodded.

-"Anyway, like I was saying, my headache's almost gone and I know that I'd be able to help fight if any more dragons showed up, _'and I'm positive more will'_, so do you think we should keep going until we find somewhere to rest for the night?"

Albel nodded in agreement and handed over the torch, thinking it was a good idea to have both hands free for combat.

They walked down the tunnel for quite a long time. They hadn't had much choice in a change of direction because they hadn't seen any other tunnels besides the one they were walking down. After searching and not finding any suitable place to rest, they decided to just sit down in the middle of the tunnel to catch some z's.

They found a stray stick of wood on the way and lit the end of it, so now both Nel and Albel had a torch.

-"I'm going to go see if there's anything we need to watch out for up ahead." Albel said as Nel plopped down on the cold ground. "You stay here, I'll be back in a minute." Nel grumbled a "Okay" under her breath and watched Albel until all she could see was the light of his torch in the distance.

Nel sighed and put a hand on her stomach as it growled again.

-"I hear you loud and clear, but I can't help it. There's no food in this cave unless we eat a dragon...and I can only imagine what that would taste like."

She waited for Albel to come back for nearly 10 minutes. Nel just sat there, in all her uncomfortableness, and stared at the flame of her torch.

-"Nox had better come back...Now that I think about it, I wouldn't put it past him to just find the nearest exit from this cave and leave me in here." Nel frowned and stood up. "I'd better go-" She stopped as she saw her torch flame flicker violently, as if someone had turned a fan on and off in an instant.

Nel slowly turned towards the direction her and Albel had originally come from. Another warm gust of foul smelling air hit her face and Nel came to realization of what she was dealing with.

A dragon.

She raised her torch higher in the air as she frantically fumbled for her dagger. A low growl sounded from in front of her and Nel just caught a glimpse of huge sharp teeth and red eyes before her torch went out, plunging her into sudden darkness.

Nel quickly dropped the burnt stick and assumed a defensive position with her dagger out in front of her. Not that it did any good though. The now almost invisible dragon swiped it's sharp claws at Nel, catching her off guard and sending her flying across the tunnel and smashing into the cave wall.

Nel cried out in pain and held onto her side as she fell to the ground. She had three decent sized slashes that ran from her left hand side all the way around to her belly. Nel blocked out the extreme pain and swiftly started to prepare a healing spell, but the dragon was on top of her before she could finish it. The dragon swiped down at her and Nel screamed in agony as its claws sliced her upper chest, like three overly large paper cuts.

**XXX**

Albel had been walking down the deserted tunnel for nearly 5 minutes now, and he hadn't seen anything that could pose as a threat.

-"I'd better get back, that fool will probably think I've abandoned her and come looking for me." he mumbled and started walking back to where he had left Nel.

He walked until he could see Nel's torch burning brightly near the ground of the tunnel in the distance. The torch then shot up as Nel supposedly stood up, flickered a few times and raised up higher in the air, before abruptly going out.

Albel portrayed a confused look and continued walking towards where the flame had been. _'Why would she put her torch out? That's just stupid...'_

A cry of pain caused him to speed up to a jog. He heard Nel scream in agony soon after and broke into an all out run, pulling his katana from it's sheath with his hand. _'She must of run into a dragon!'_ he thought as the struggle scene came into view.

-"...Oh shit..."


	6. You're Unbelievable!

**Chapter 6**

"**You're Unbelievable!"**

-"...Oh shit..."

There was a sloppy line of blood leading over to the side of the tunnel, to where Nel was pinned down to the ground by a dragon's huge claws. Albel's eyes instantly darted to Nel's wounds and winced. He picked up speed slightly. _'This doesn't look good...'_

He saw the dragon lift one of its clawed paws while the other one continued to hold Nel down to the ground. Albel easily pinpointed the monster's weak spot on it's lower neck from years of experience around dragons, and jumped into the air, kicking the dragon hard in the neck and sending it tumbling back down the tunnel and out of view.

Albel hastily kneeled down, dropped his katana, and put an arm around Nel's back and hoisted her up, looking at her wounds. Nel just stared up at him with readable thankfulness and pain all over her face.

-"Quickly, heal yourself before it comes back." Albel mumbled and glanced in the direction he had sent the dragon flying.

Nel shakily placed her hands on her chest and closed her eyes, concentrating. A pale light traced her cut flesh as she drew her hands away and the light stitched her skin back together with invisible thread. Albel watched her heal the huge cuts on her side in silence. He never got tiered of seeing her do that, seeing as he couldn't do it himself.

Nel looked up at him when she was done healing her wounds and muttered a "Thanks" quietly.

Albel felt the urge to retort or put her down for not being able to take out the dragon by herself, but couldn't find the words to use, so he simply nodded and took his arm from around her back and shoved his torch into one of her hands.

-"Hold this, I've got a bone to pick with that dragon." he muttered. Nel looked puzzled for a second before her eyes went wide.

-"Albel!" she exclaimed and hastily went for her dagger that was laying beside her. Albel's eyes widened slightly and he spun around, putting up his clawed hand in defense just in time to clash with the claws of a miffed dragon.

With one swift movement, Nel lunged at the dragon and drove her dagger into its eye, earning a yelp of extreme pain from her scaly friend. It backed up a few steps and opened it's mouth, getting ready to scorch Albel and Nel. But Albel was too fast for the dragon and grabbed his katana. He leaped to the dragon's side and swiftly delivered the final blow, chopping the dragon's head off in one fell swoop.

Silence fell over the scene until Albel sheathed his sword and Nel fell backwards to lean against the cave wall. She looked up as Albel walked over to her.

-"Thanks for helping me." she said before having second thoughts. Albel just handed her back her dagger and said nothing. Nel stood and replaced her dagger in its pouch, looking distastefully at the dragon carcass. "You hungry for dragon?" she asked Albel, trying to sound funny, but only succeeding in sounding grossed out.

Albel snorted. "No. But it's all we've got to work with. The least we could do is cook it..." he motioned for the torch and started looking around on the ground once he had it in his clawed hand.

Nel waited for him to come back and eyed the dragon's head, having weird suspicions that it would spring back to life any second and flame torch her to death. Nel shook her head. _'It's the lack of sleep. It's making me think weird thoughts.'_

Albel came back moments later with a pile of sticks and leaves in his normal arm. Nel noticed a very uncomfortable look on his face and that his 'good' arm was shaking slightly. Albel sloppily dropped the twigs to the ground and kneeled over them, setting fire to the pile by adding the torch to it. When he kneeled over, that's when Nel saw it.

-"Albel! You're wounded!" she exclaimed and bent down beside his good arm to look over the damage. It looked like the dragon must of caught Albel off guard briefly when he was going in for the final blow. There was a huge slash that ran from Albel's shoulder down to his elbow, and it looked pretty bad.

Albel jerked his arm out of Nel's reach and snarled at her. "Don't touch me maggot! Just mind your own business!" he spat out at her and got up. He then drew his katana with his wounded arm and walked over to the dead dragon and proceeded to hack some decent sized pieces of meat off it, all the while wincing and biting his lip.

Nel frowned and got up as well. _'He's like a little kid sometimes, scared of letting anyone look at his booboo...'_ But Nel knew that this could easily be more then just a booboo is she didn't heal it soon._ 'It's not that I care about him or anything, it's just that he's stuck in here with me and I'd rather not be left alone in this cave...'_ Nel quickly told herself as she started walking around the dead thing so she could get behind Albel.

Halfway around the dragon, Nel put her right hand behind her back and started up a healing spell. She peaked around the side of the carcass and saw Albel hacking away at the dragon's stomach with his sword. _'He hasn't noticed me yet...'_ Nel stealthily snuck around so she was standing right behind Albel and swiftly slapped her glowing right hand on Albel's arm, the spell instantly spreading over the gash and healing it. A wave of nausea washed over Nel's consciousness briefly, arguing with her using for so much of her energy in one shot.

Albel gasped in surprise and spun around with a start, in the motion of cutting Nel through the middle with his katana. Nel yelped in surprise and moved out of the way, just missing the sword that was out to get her.

Albel, just now realizing that it was Nel who had touched him, sheathed his sword and glared at her.

-"Worm, I told you not to touch me!" he growled and flexed his claws.

Nel, still shook up about the assault, frowned and put her hands on her hips. "I was just trying to help! Doesn't your arm feel better now that it's healed!" she protested. Albel glanced at his arm as Nel continued her ranting. "You're unbelievable! I thought for sure you'd jump at the idea of me using up my energy to heal you! But nooooooo, instead you decide to go all solo and try to hack me in two!" Nel clenched her fists and looked up at Albel. "What the hell is wrong with you!"

Albel looked away from her, hoping that he wouldn't have to say anything and that she's just calm down by herself.

No such luck.

Nel waited for him to say something, still ticked. "So what? Now you're not going to say anything? Or are you just too high and mighty to speak to scum like me!"

Albel turned his head to look at her, anger present on his features. "Would you just shut up! I'm sick of your ranting! I didn't know you were the one who was behind me, if I had, I wouldn't of attacked you. I just don't need some Aquarian worm healing me. I'm not some kid who needs to be taken care of all the time!"

Nel took all this in and looked at him with disbelief. "I don't believe it..." she muttered. "You're not even the slightest bit grateful." She shook her head and sighed. "No, actually I do believe it. You've always been like this, ever since I met you. You're always inconsiderate and cold. I guess you could say I never really understood you, you're so much different then anyone else I've ever known..."

Nel slowly turned around and walked over to the fire that looked like it wanted to go out and sat down in a heap with her back against the cave wall.

Albel sighed and looked down at his healed arm again before picking up two sticks he had saved and stabbing a piece of dragon meat onto each one before walking over to where Nel was sitting.

-"Here." he said quietly and put a stick of meat out for her to take. Nel eyed Albel tiredly for a moment before taking the stick and leaning forward, holding the meat to the fire in hopes of cooking it somewhat.

Albel went and sat across from Nel on the other side of the fire and tried to cook his food as well. Every once and awhile he would look over to where Nel sat, but she would just stare at the fire, the flames reflecting off her violet eyes.

Albel couldn't take the silence. When it's quiet, ones mind has time to think, and for Albel, thinking could be very painful at times...and annoying.

There was this little voice in his head that kept telling him that he should apologize to Nel. Albel refused to listen to reason. _'It's the lack of sleep, it's making me get voices in my head.'_ he thought. The little voice was very persistent, Albel would give it that much, but he still didn't understand why it wanted him to apologize so badly.

'_She should be thanking me! I usually kill anybody who touches me in an instant!'_

**_-'Yeah, and you would of killed her if she hadn't moved!'-_** said the little voice in his head that seemed to be getting bigger with every passing second.

'_You just shut up! I don't need your nagging right now.'_

**_-'You're just upset because you know I'm right. She went to the trouble of healing you and you thank her by attempting murder! She's right, you are unbelievable!'-_**

'_I wouldn't of attacked her if I had known it was her and not some bad ass monster! Jeez, you're making me sound like the bad guy here!'_

_**-'That's because you are, dimwit!'-**_

'_Why you little-'_

-"Um, ...Albel?"

Albel blinked a few times, just now realizing that Nel was sitting across from him and that he had been fighting with himself the whole time. 'I really need to get some rest...'

-"Yeah, whaddaya want?" he muttered. Nel just pointed.

-"Your meat is on fire." she said calmly and Albel looked down at his dinner.

The chunk of meat had now turned into a fire ball, the little stick slowly turning black. Apparently during the heated conversation with his other half, Albel had been paying close to no attention to his dinner.

-"Ack!" he exclaimed and jumped to his feet, still holding his homemade fire ball. Nel watched him as he frantically shook the stick of meat, trying to kill the flame. "Put it out!" he suddenly shouted and Nel, making her jump up to a standing position.

-"What? How!"

-"Use your runo-whatcamacallit! Just _put it out_!"

-"But I'm running low on energy and-"

-"I said **PUT IT OUT**!" Albel yelled angrily as he juggled the burning hot stick, trying not to drop it.

Nel cursed in a very unladylike manner and quickly got a water spell going in her head. She let it loose, only she overdid it...majorly. The equivalent of a bucket of water poured itself over Albel's head, putting out the flaming meat wad, but soaking him in the process. Nel suppressed giggles as Albel looked at her from behind his dripping bangs of black and blonde hair.

-"Sorry." Nel chocked out and covered her mouth with one hand to stop herself from laughing.

Albel growled low but kept his anger in check. There wasn't really any use in getting mad at her, she'd just try to drown him again.

**_-'What goes around comes around.'-_** the voice in his head chanted, annoying Albel even further.

-"I should hurt you, but I'm not going to." Albel muttered and sat down close to the fire.

Nel looked down at him and noticed that he was shivering. Running a hand over her bare arm, Nel discovered that she had goosebumps as well. It had gotten a lot colder in the last hour and their only source of heat now was the little dying fire.

Gazing down at Albel as he eyed his hunk of blackened meat unhappily, Nel wondered how cold he really was. _'I'm cold, but I'm dry. I can only imagine how cold he must be...'_ Nel hesitantly walked over and sat down beside him._ 'I can't believe I'm doing this...'_

She put her stick of perfectly cooked meat out in front of Albel. He stared at it for a moment before shifting his gaze to Nel, the back to the meat.

-"What do you expect me to do with that?" he asked blankly. Nel sighed.

-"Your is burnt, mine isn't. I'm going to share mine with you." she said and handed it to him. Albel took it and looked at it like it was a rare and dangerous disease waiting to happen.

-"You expect me to _share_ this with _you_?" he mocked and Nel rolled her eyes.

-"Well if you're going to be so touchy about it then just cut the meat in half so you'll have your own piece.

-"Good idea Zelpher. I see you're not a complete idiot, as I had thought." Albel sneered and drew his katana. Nel frowned at his insult and watched him cut the meat straight down the middle and hand her back the piece with the stick.

-"Thanks." Nel muttered and bit down on the wad. Surprisingly, it didn't taste too bad. Albel paused for a moment before eating some of his own.

They both finished off the last of their dinners and sat in silence. It was awkward, sitting so close to each other, alone, in a cave. Nel thought maybe it would be easier if she struck up a conversation with her ex-enemy.

She turned her head and looked at him, opened her mouth to talk, and every thing went pitch black.

-"Whoa!" she exclaimed when Albel disappeared into darkness as the fire burned out. Nel's reflexes took action before her brain could process what had happened and she reached out, grabbing hold of Albel's hand. His hand didn't react as her small fingers wrapped themselves around his.

Albel, who's eyes quickly adjusted to the dark so he could see again, looked over at Nel and saw the shocked look on her face.

-"What's wrong Zelpher, afraid of the dark?" he taunted. Nel looked up at him and swiftly let go of his hand, not being able to see the disappointment that flashed over his face, gone as fast as it had come.

-"No, it just caught me off guard, that's all." she protested. Albel smirked.

-"Whatever you say." He picked up his burnt stick that the meat used to be on (he had thrown it away) and poked the dead fire a few times. "So much for a heat supply." he muttered.

-"What if I light it again?" Nel offered, even though she was in no condition to be using her runology.

-"It wouldn't last. All the wood's burned down to nothing." Albel muttered and put his stick down and leaned back against the cave wall. Nel followed suit and leaned back as well.

It was going to be a long night...


	7. Michael's Appearance

**Chapter 7**

**Michael's Appearance**

Nel did try to sleep, you can give her that, but she couldn't get comfortable because of the unbearable cold. She sat leaning against the cave wall, knees up against her chest with her arms wrapped tightly around her legs in a hopeless attempt to stay warm.

Albel didn't show any noticeable signs of being as cold as she was, but Nel knew differently. His whole arm was covered in goosebumps and he continued to nibble on his bottom lip nervously. Not to mention his hair was still dripping wet from before. Oh yeah, he was cold.

Neither of them had brought any extra clothing with them into the cave, and they were both regretting it now. Nel sighed, seeing her breath, and thought back to the survival courses she'd taken a long time ago.

'"_If you don't have any extra blankets, a fire, or warm clothing, your most effective method of survival in extremely low temperatures is sharing body heat with another person."'_ Nel's instructor's voice rang in her head. _'"You would need to get as close to each other as possible so you can effectively share body heat and stay warm."'_

Nel glanced wearily at Albel and shuddered. _'If I try to get any closer to him, he'd probably cut me to pieces on the spot.'_ Her body shuddered again, this time from the cold._ 'I guess I don't really have a choice...'_

Nel untangled her arms from around her legs and felt goosebumps instantly spread over the uncovered skin. She slowly inched herself closer to Albel until her arm brushed up against his bare arm, causing him to recoil abruptly and look at her.

-"What do you think you're doing, maggot!" he asked and Nel inched closer again, until her whole side was touching his.

-"I'm trying to stay warm stupid! Our fire is dead, our light is gone, and we're both freezing to death. All we've got now is each other and that smelly dragon carcass, and I don't think it's going to provide us with much warmth." Nel stated.

Albel, still unnerved about how close Nel was to him, just snorted. "Fool, I'm not cold at all. I live in Airyglyph, one of the coldest places on all of Elicoor, a little cold is nothing to me." he said smugly, but didn't make a move to get away from her. Nel smirked.

-"Okay fine, you're not cold. But I'm freezing, and you are the only keeping me from getting seriously sick. So just shut up your Glyphian ego and don't complain."

Albel stayed quiet and just sat there. He had to admit, maybe not out loud, but certainly in his head, that she _was_ warm. Well, warm compared to him. Albel's hair was still dripping onto his shoulders, which wasn't helping.

Soon, despite his pride, Albel found himself moving closer to Nel for more warmth. Heat radiated off the two as they acted like heaters for one another.

Nel was slowly drifting off to sleep, her eyes drooping. Her head swayed slightly until it settled to rest on Albel's shoulder. Albel looked down at Nel when he felt her hair tickle his bare skin. _'She must be tiered...I won't move her, she needs the sleep. She won't be any good to me if she's half asleep tomorrow.'_ Nel's breathing slowed, confirming that she had fallen asleep.

Albel's eyes began to droop soon after. He scanned the area once more to make sure nothing was there before letting sleep take him. His head slowly fell to one side, landing softly on top of Nel's. A small smile spread across his lips as his hand found hers and slowly closed around it, all the while he was fast asleep.

**XXX**

After sleeping a grand total of about 2 hours, Nel slowly started to wake up. Sure, she could've slept for another 5 hours easy, but she knew that it wasn't necessary and that a certain someone would be upset if she overslept. Nel opened her eyes and rubbed the sleep out of them. It had been a long, cold night

She looked beside her, still rubbing one eye, and noticed that Albel wasn't next to her anymore.

-"Where did he...?" she muttered before noticing him. Albel was sitting on the other side of a newly lit fire, roasting two more wads of dragon meat. He glanced up at her and saw that she was awake and smirked.

-"Finally, you're awake." he picked up the two pieces of meat and got up. "I was starting to think I'd have to wake you up."

He sat down beside her and passed her some meat. Nel took it gratefully and stared into the flames.

-"How did you get the fire burning again? We didn't have any wood and I wasn't up to light it." Albel rolled his eyes.

-"Fool. You give me no respect whatsoever." He paused a moment before continuing. "I walked down that way" (he jerks his thumb to the right) "and ran into some more sticks and leaves. Then I found two stones to make sparks with and lit the fire." He paused again to take a bite of his meat. "Then I salvaged what was left of the dragon, or the parts that weren't decaying and cooked them...Honestly, the way you were talking, it sounded as if you thought I was completely useless." he huffed and took another bite of his breakfast.

Nel smirked. "I have to admit, I don't think you're useless...You just have a really nasty attitude. But you are a very good fighter, I'll give you that much."

Albel rolled his eyes. "Like I really care what you think of me." he said sarcastically.

Nel took a bite of her meat and smirked again. "You seemed to care about it a minute ago."

Albel just frowned. "Bah"

They finished off their 'breakfast' and sat in front of the fire until it finally burnt out. Nel lit two of the sticks with her runology and handed one to Albel before they continued their walk deeper into the cave.

They didn't talk much as they walked, mostly because they were either concerned about attracting any unwanted attention, a.k.a.: Dragons, or they just didn't know what to say to each other.

Nel was having some mixed emotions about who she was walking around with in a dark, gloomy cave. Yeah, Albel still freaked her out, and yeah, he gave her the chills...but he had saved her life the night before, and a couple times before that... Nel glanced over at Albel and saw that he too was looking over her way.

They both looked away instantly.

He was just so hard to read, like he had put up some kind of barrier wall to keep everyone out...A strange thought ran through Nel's mind just then. _'Do I want to break it down?'_ Woah, were did **_that_** come from! That was way too deep for her at the moment, so she just blocked it out and concentrated on the task at hand: Don't trip on any of those pointy rocks and break your leg.

Albel was nibbling on his bottom lip again, a nervous habit that refused to go away. _'Why does she keep looking at me?'_ He glanced in her direction, catching her as she quickly looked away again. _'What's wrong with her? She's been acting strange ever since we got into this whole mess...'_

Albel had to admit, he'd been acting differently around Nel as well. Something was up, he just didn't know what. Why had he saved her from that dragon the other night? It's not like he really needs her around, he could easily find this Michael kid and get out of the cave, she was just holding him back. And yet,...what had compelled him to cook her breakfast? That little idea was way out of his cold-blooded character, so why did he do it?

Albel frowned. _'All these questions are giving me a headache.'_

-"What's up?"

Albel turned to look at Nel, but noticed she had stopped walking and was behind him. "What are you talking about Zelpher? Nothing's '_up'_." Albel said in his mocking tone and turned around to face her. Nel frowned.

-"Don't lie to me, something's the matter. You looked troubled for a moment there and I want to know what's up."

Albel smirked at her remark. "Since when do you give a rat's ass about what's wrong with me?" he sneered.

Nel blushed very lightly, not knowing why her face was heating up, and searched frantically for an answer. "Well,...since I'm alone in a cave with you...The last thing I need is for you to go crazy on me." Nel stated rather smoothly. A good comeback in her opinion.

Albel's eyebrow twitched. "Fool, I'm not going crazy!...If you must know, I've got a headache." he spat. Nel's eyebrows went up.

-"That's it? Albel the Wicked is getting beaten up by a little headache?" she asked in a half mocking voice.

Albel frowned again. _'This is why I never tell people anything, they always make fun of me over it...'_

Albel opened his mouth to counter her remark, but stopped when he heard a pebble skid across the ground behind him. Before Nel could stop him, Albel drew his katana and spun around, pointing it's blade at a young boy's neck.

The kid was up to Albel's chest in height and was very skinny. He was dressed in a very worn pair of jeans and an oversized black shirt that fell to his knees, it was also full of holes. More importantly, he was firmly holding a blue scroll in his right hand.

Albel blinked at the youngster, obviously taken off guard that he wasn't a blood thirsty predator. Nel reacted quickly and ran up beside Albel and pulled his extended arm back, bringing the katana away from the boy's neck.

The boy seemed to breath more freely with the blade taken away but still eyed Nel and Albel cautiously, gripping the blue scroll tightly. Nel let go of Albel's arm and took a step towards the kid.

-"Hello there. Are you Michael?" she asked calmly, as not to alarm the boy. He responded with a short nod but still watched Nel carefully. "Hi Michael. I'm Nel, and this is Albel. We're here to help you." She took another small step closer but Michael took a huge one back.

-"Nel Zelpher? I've heard of you, you work directly for the Queen back in Aquios." he muttered more to himself then Nel.

-"Yes, that's right. I've been sent to come find you." Nel said softly and stepped closer again, only to have Michael retreat.

-"I'm not stupid. You're here to take this back!" he lifted the scroll into the air violently. "You don't want to help at all! You just want your precious scroll back!" Nel quickly shook her head.

-"No, you've got it all wrong. I'm here to take you back home. We've found you're house and we're giving your mom medical treatment as we speak. Now, if you'd just come with us-"

Michael shook his head violently. "No! You're lying!" he yelled and turned to run.

Albel took action and lunged at the kid with his katana, but Nel latched onto his other arm to stop him.

-"No, don't hurt him! He's just a kid!" she exclaimed and they both watched as Michael ran into the distance and out of sight.

Albel growled in annoyance and yanked his arm out of Nel's grip. "You fool! Now you let him get away!" he exclaimed angrily. Nel countered.

-"But you were going to try and hurt him! I couldn't let you do that!"

Albel just grimaced, muttering "Maggot" under his breath and sheathed his katana. "I knew something was up..."

Nel glanced over at him. "What do you mean?" she asked shortly.

Albel frowned at her. "You know exactly what I mean. You lied to me."

Nel didn't understand what he meant at first, but then she remembered. "Oh man..."

-"That kid didn't really steal an amulet, did he? He stole some blueprints for Aquios' weapon design." Albel said a little too calmly, although he didn't look all that happy.

Nel was debating on whether to apologize, or try and make a run for it. Considering her current physical condition, and the fact that Albel was a lot faster then she was, apologizing sounded like the best option. "Look, Albel..."

-"But it's not like this comes as a surprise to me."

Nel stopped short. "Hun?"

-"When you were yelling at that soldier at the entrance to this cave, I glanced at a few of the mission's informative sheets that were spread out over one of those tables." Nel stayed silent. "One of them read: 'Operation, Retrieve Weapon Design Blueprints' in big bold letters across the top of the sheet." He looked Nel in the eyes. "Any fool could've put two and two together."

Nel held her breath and watched Albel turn his back on her and wipe his hand down over his face. She hesitantly took a step towards him. "Are you mad at me?" she asked, not realizing how childish it sounded until it was out in the open.

Albel snorted softly but didn't turn around. "Yeah, I'm angry, but I'm not angry at you...much. I'm mostly angry with myself, considering I walked knowingly into this mess."

Nel was speechless. This was so unlike the Albel Nox she knew. Albel turned around and looked at her with tiered eyes. "I suppose those blueprints were designed to be used against Airyglyph in the future, if there is another war?" he asked.

Looking into Albel's eyes, Nel decided that total honesty was the best way to get through this. "Yes, they were...I didn't want you to know because I knew that if you had, you wouldn't of agreed to help me."

Albel sighed and closed his eyes. "Fool, you didn't need to lie to me. I already told you I found out what this was all about before even coming into this blasted cave with you." he muttered almost inaudibly.

-"Why did you still agree to come with me then?" she asked softly, knowing full well that she probably would never see Albel the Wicked in such a calm and truthful mood aver again.

He opened his eyes, but didn't look at Nel, instead, he looked at the cave wall behind her. "I don't know...Something just told me that I was going to be needed, and that I should come."

Nel nodded in mild understanding and smiled. "Well, I'm glad you did. If you hadn't of been here, I'd probably be dead right now." she said honestly.

Albel flinched at her words and quickly covered it up. "Bah." he dismissed the concept and turned his head to look back in the direction Michael had fled. "It looks like as if that kid is running deeper into the cave..." he said in monotone. Nel watched him carefully as he dusted some dirt off his shirt. He noticed her stare and looked at her. "What now?"

Nel opened her mouth to speak but found that words wouldn't come easily. "Does-...does this mean that you'll still help me find Michael?" she asked softly.

Albel's face remained emotionless, but his eyes softened, whether he knew that or not. "Fool, why wouldn't I? Sure these blueprints are to be used against Airyglyph, but between you and me, we've got some of our own to use against you. It's only fair." he said with fake smugness, followed by a smirk.

A strange feeling came over Nel after seeing his mouth turn up into a smirk, confirming that he had just said something that he thought would upset her. She wanted to yell at him for acting like a jerk, and hug him for agreeing to help her at the same time, which was _very_ strange, considering hugging Albel seemed like suicide in her eyes.

Rejecting both of those wild urges instantly, Nel settled for just smiling at him thankfully. "Thank you, Albel." she said softly.

Albel turned his back on her once again so she wouldn't see him genuinely smile at her thanks. _'What's wrong with me? This is so unlike me...'_ His mind rambled on about how his personality was flowing down the drain and how it was all Zelpher's fault, but Albel wasn't really listening.

-"Uh, let's go. I want to find this kid and get out of here as soon as possible. I've got my own business to attend to." he muttered and started walking down the dark cave corridor, torch in hand.

Nel started after him, a small smile never leaving her face.


	8. Are We losing Our Minds?

**Chapter 8**

**Are We Losing Our Minds?**

To explain what was going on with Nel Zelpher and Albel Nox as they walked deeper into the cave, Total Silence would be an extreme understatement. Uncomfortable Silence or Awkward Silence would be better terms to use in this situation.

Both of them refused to look at each other. Lately, they had both noticed that when they were around each other, their bodies and minds would do things without even thinking it over first.

Nel was becoming more caring towards her ex-rival, and she didn't like that one bit. The little explanation Albel had given her over the whole 'I-knew-that-the-kid-had-stolen-blueprints-and-not-an-amulet-all-along' speech had freaked her out, majorly. Sure, she was very thankful that he hadn't just blown up in her face and stomped off, leaving her all alone to deal with a major Aquarian issue, but at least if he had had a hissy fit, it would a been a little more in his character. Even Albel himself was unsure of why he had stayed to help, and that was very out of the ordinary as well.

Albel was just as uncomfortable as Nel was. Why _had_ he still agreed to come into this blasted cave with her if he knew that he was actually helping the enemy retrieve some supposedly very important blueprints that would be used against him in the future if there was another war? ;which he sincerely hoped there wouldn't be.

Albel frowned. That god damn headache was back to haunt him again. More questions swarmed around in his head, demanding to be answered.

'_I really don't need all this extra stress right now...'_ both Albel and Nel thought at the same time, still refusing to look at one another.

There was a sharp right corner in the tunnel up ahead. Albel, who was walking just ahead of Nel, was so caught up in the ramblings of his mind that he didn't notice the soft, sobbing sound that was coming from around the corner. Nel caught onto the noise and reacted quickly.

Albel was about to step around the corner, mumbling under his breath, when Nel reached up and grabbed his shoulder, yanking him back away from the corner. Albel stumbled backwards for a few steps, but regained his footing with the help of Nel's soft hand on his back to steady him. He turned on her with a start.

-"What the hell--" Nel slapped her hand over his mouth and put a finger to her lips.

-"Shh. Listen."

Albel's eyes drifted towards the corner ad he listened more intently, almost instantly hearing what Nel had been implying. He shifted his gaze back to Nel and she took her mouth away from his mouth. She slid by Albel and peaked around the corner.

-"I thought so..." she whispered almost inaudibly and motioned for Albel with her hand. He came up behind her and looked around the corner as well, trying hard to ignore how close he was to a certain red head at that moment.

Around the corner and down the tunnel a very short distance, sat Michael. He was sitting with his back against the cave wall, knees brought up to his chest with his skinny arms wrapped around his legs. His head was brought down to his knees so his face was hidden. He was shivering all over and his breathing was irregular from the sobs he was emitting. A blue scroll poked out of his jean pocket.

Nel scanned his physical condition thoroughly, coming to the conclusion that Michael most likely hadn't eaten or slept for the last few days, and by seeing how his clothes had some clean cuts in them, she could assume that he'd already run into some predators.

Tearing her eyes away from Michael, Nel motioned for Albel to follow her back out of hearing range. She turned back around and faced Albel, who had a very unreadable look on his face; Nel assumed she looked much the same.

-"Well, that's defiantly Michael. So how are we going to go about this?" Albel opened his mouth but Nel cut him off. "And no, we're not going to charge over there and slaughter him, that is totally out of the question."

Albel frowned and crossed his arms. "Fool, I wasn't going to say anything like that. Again, you underestimate me."

Nel placed her hands on her hips and waited smugly. "So, what were you gonna say?"

Albel's frown grew. "No respect." he muttered again. "I was going to suggest that we sneak up on him and catch him by surprise. Then we can tie him up with your scarf and haul him out of here."

Nel studied Albel. "That's so crazy that it just might work..." she muttered.

-"It's not that crazy. The element of surprise is vital in situations like this. I thought you'd know that by now." Albel smirked. Nel untied her scarf from around her neck and glanced at him.

-"So you always have to be so rude?"

Albel snorted. "Are the dragons in this cave herbivores?"

Nel stopped fumbling with her scarf upon hearing his retort. After a second, she smiled. "Point taken." She got her scarf off and pulled it tight between her two hands. "Alright, you sneak up on him and get his hands behind him so I can tie him up." she said. Looking at Albel, she saw a gleam in his eyes. There was going to be a struggle, and he was going to enjoy it. Nel shivered. "But don't be to rough with him. He's obviously terrified of this place and he's just a kid."

Albel rolled his eyes. "I know, I know, let's just get on with it."

Nel nodded and went back to peak around the corner. Michael was still there, sobbing into his knees. She turned around and gave Albel a thumbs up. Albel nodded and scanned the ground. He spotted a fist sized rock and picked it up.

Nel's eyes went wide. "You're gonna hit him in the head with that! You'll give him a concussion! What happened the 'sneaking up on him' plan?"

Albel walked up behind her as she continued to stare up at his face in disbelief. "I'm not going to hit him, fool. Watch this." he whispered calmly and threw the rock around the corner.

It silently soared over Michael's head, without him noticing, and flew into the darkness of the tunnel. A thud was heard as the rock finally landed. As the sound rang off the cave walls, Michael's head shot up to stare at the dark tunnel the sound had come from. He shakily got to his feet and started to back away from the dark, and towards Nel and Albel.

Albel smirked smugly at Nel, who was feeling pretty stupid for not thinking of that herself.

-"Good job." she muttered under her breath, but Albel heard it, and the smirk widened.

Michael was almost right in front of them when he turned to run and wacked into Albel. Michael shakily moved his head to look up at Albel, who smirked at him.

-"Heya" he said in a low voice and clamped his clawed hand down on Michael's shoulder before he could get away. Nel quickly knelt down beside the shocked child and started to wrap her scarf around him.

That broke Michael out of his shocked state. At the sight of Nel, he knew in his mind that he had to get away from these people, or else they would take him back to Aquios before he had a chance to sell the blueprints, and any chances of saving his mother would wash down the drain.

Taking action, he lifted one of his hands, fisted it, and wailed Nel in the shoulder, knocking her off balance. Not missing a beat, he conjured up a couple Ice Daggers and fired them off at Nel, completely freezing one of her arms from the elbow down.

Albel took action and grabbed the boy's outstretched arm. "We're here to help you fool!"

But Michael wasn't listening. Swinging forward, he kicked Albel square in the knee, hard. Albel bit his lip and his hold on Michael loosened slightly. That was enough for Michael to break free and turn to run.

Nel, who was still shocked about her frozen arm, which hurt like hell, had managed to stand up. She swiftly threw her leg out and successfully tripped the little brat.

Michael fell to the ground and stared up at Nel helplessly. "Michael, enough! We just want to help you get out of this stupid cave!" Nel yelled, angered by this little kid's shitty attitude.

Michael started up more Ice Daggers in his hand. "No you're not! You're lying to me!" he yelled back and let the spell go, aiming it at Nel's head.

Being caught off guard again, Nel had no time to move. She closed her eyes and got ready for the pain...but instead of feeling the pain of her head freezing over, she felt something shove her lower legs forward, causing her to collapse to the ground, the Ice Daggers shooting by over her head.

Michael didn't even spare another second to look at the damage he'd caused our heros before taking off full throttle down the dark tunnel. He did, however, stop long enough to pick up the still lit torches that been dropped sometime during the struggle, leaving Nel and Albel in darkness.

Nel could just make out Albel's form crouching beside her, one leg still outstretched. He had seen what was happening seconds before Nel had even clued in, allowing him the time to drop down and do a low spin kick on the backs of Nel's legs so the Ice Daggers would miss as she fell.

It was almost completely dark, but both their eyes sights had gotten used to seeing in the dark, allowing them to be able to see a little.

Albel stood up and dusted off his shirt before looking down at Nel, and offering her a hand. Nel looked at it for a few seconds before taking it in hers and allowing him to help her up. Albel let go of her hand almost immediately and smirked.

-"Hey,"

Nel looked at him rather weakly. Her frozen arm was hurting like there was no tomorrow. _'I'm probably going to have the worst case of frost bite when I get this thing thawed...'_ "Yes?"

Albel smirked like a little child at Christmas and started counting on his fingers. "This is the..2, 3, 4th time I've had to save your backside in the last couple days! You're losing your touch Zelpher."

Nel rolled her eyes. "I'm not losing my touch. I'm just not used to caves, or dragon's for that matter."

Albel snorted. "We've been through plenty of caves and defeated plenty of monsters that are much fiercer then dragons when we were in Fayt's little group."

Nel raised an eyebrow. "So, Nox, how are you digesting the fact that our butts just got kicked by a minor?"

Albel remained silent for a moment. "You didn't tell me that little maggot knew runology."

-"He's an Aquarian. I thought it'd be obvious."

-"But are Aquarians supposed to learn complicated spells such as Ice Daggers at such a young age?"

This time, it was Nel's turn to be silent. "Well, no, now that you mention it..." With that thought, some of the final bits of the puzzle fell into place. "That's it..." she whispered. Albel glanced back at her.

-"What?"

Nel felt like pounding herself in the head. She returned Albel's gaze and dished her recent discovery. "Those blueprints Michael stole, they were for one of our most advanced weapons, but I never asked Clair which one. A boy Michael's age would never of been able to learn a spell like Ice Daggers on his own, unless he had some kind of reference to the secrets of unlocking the skill." Nel breathed in and looked down and her frozen arm. "This kid, Michael, he stole the designs for Aquios' most devastating weapon, Suriboros."

Albel observed her grave expression in the dark and crossed his arms. "And I suppose you've been ordered against telling me anything about this weapon " he half asked, half stated.

Nel nodded. "Yes, but I'm going to tell you anyway."

Albel remained still, hoping that she wouldn't change her mind about telling.

-"For the last couple months, Aquios has been designing multiple weapons that are powered by an individual's runology. They work like a magnifying glass, blowing one's spell to gigantic proportions and releasing it at the enemy." Albel listened intently, getting more anxious with ever word Nel spoke. "We had made many of there small weapons for our runologists, but there was a newer version of those weapons that was specially made for long distance attacks. The blueprints for this weapon, Suriboros, had copies of Aquios' runology spell sheets attached to it to teach new runologists the spells required for Suriboros to function..."

Albel nodded and uncrossed his arms. "So that's how this brat learned Ice Daggers, he taught himself by using those blueprints."

Nel nodded. "Yep, and I know some of the spells that were noted with those blueprints, and they're very powerful and very dangerous if not done right. And I'm sure that we wouldn't want them pointed at us..." She tapped her frozen arm with her index finger. Albel watched her absentmindedly run her slender fingers over the slick surface of the ice.

-"You know, you should seriously consider thawing your arm soon." he said and caught her eyes as she looked up at him.

-"Oh yeah, right..." she muttered quietly, snapping out of her train of thought.

Snapping her thumb and index finger, a small flame ignited on her fingertips, casting shadows off their faces as she placed the flame under her frozen elbow. Albel looked disapprovingly at the minuscule flame.

-"Can't you make a bigger flame then that? Your arm won't be unfrozen until next year with that puny thing."

Nel sighed. "I don't want to spend the little energy I have left on a flame though. Right now I'm the only one out of the two of us that can supply a light and heat source, and we're going to need both until we can get out of here, and I really don't want to pass out again..."

Albel looked at the little flame. _'This is taking forever...by the time her arm's thawed, it'll have already lost blood circulation...'_ He grumbled in frustration. "I'm starting to wonder why we didn't pack any provisions before getting into this mess."

Nel smirked as a couple drops of the ice cold water dropped from her elbow. "It's surprising how the important stuff always seems to get overlooked."

Albel huffed. "You can say that again."

A few more drops of water fell from the inch thick ice that had imprisoned Nel's arm. She was making progress, just very, very slowly. Albel observed her pathetic little spark that she called a flame as it slowly thawed the ice.

He sighed after 5 minutes.

-"Zelpher, seriously. I'm going to be an old man by the time your arm's thawed. Just boost your flame a little bit. If you faint or something, I'll watch over you 'till you wake up." Albel said rather reluctantly.

Nel's flame abruptly went out as she was caught by surprise. She shot a very shocked look at Albel before relighting her mini flame under her arm.

-"Did...did you just offer to do me a favor?" she asked in disbelief.

Albel crossed his arms over his chest uncomfortably and avoided Nel's gaze. "...Yes, I suppose I did, didn't I?" he muttered in a low voice. A slightly disturbed look flushed his face for a second before he spoke again. "But I meant what I said. Hurry up and thaw you arm before you get any internal damage. I'll watch out for you."

For some reason or another, Nel's cheeks grew hot in a blush at his words. It had been the nicest thing she had ever heard that man say, and he was saying it to her! _Her!_ Sure there was still that stubborn side of her that thought he was up to no good, but Nel really wasn't in the mood or position to be thinking that way. Albel and her were lost in a cave, with no provisions, very little energy, and no map. It wasn't a matter of pride or dignity anymore, it was a matter of survival.

So, Nel took Albel's offer. Spreading her palm out flat, she allowed a much larger flame to spread out over her open hand and burn brighter then before.

With that, the progress on her arm almost tripled. The drops of water started falling faster then ever and Nel thought for sure she could feel a little warmth coming through the ice and caressing her cold skin.

Albel gave an approving look at Nel's upgraded fire. "That's more like it." Then he looked up at Nel's face, which looked a little strained. "Are you alright?"

Nel looked up at him and forced a small smile. "Yeah, but I can't keep this up forever." she said and squinted in discomfort.

Albel watched Nel carefully for the next couple minutes. She was making excellent headway on her frozen arm, that much could be said, but she was looking more and more exhausted with each drop of water that fell to the soggy cave floor.

Eventually, all that was left unthawed was her hand and wrist. Nel's fire was slowly diminishing; all that was left was the original small flame at the center of her palm. Nel swayed slightly as her legs threatened to give out from underneath her, until they did.

Albel reacted quickly and caught her, holding her up. Nel's limp body leaned against his until her head softly came to rest on his chest. "Are you okay?" Nel heard Albel whisper in her ear as he slipped his arms around her waist to help support her, making Nel's breath catch in her throat.

She tried to stand but found that her legs wouldn't comply, as if they were suddenly made of noodles. She gave in after another try and relaxed into Albel's arms, forgetting for the moment just how close they really were to one another.

-"No" she murmured and rested her head on Albel's shoulder.

A slight redness came across Albel's cheeks, not that anyone would notice in the dark. "How can I help you get through this?" Albel found himself whispering in the redhead's ear, not knowing where those words were coming from.

Nel, who had lost her hold on reality, slowly raised her arms and loosely wrapped them around Albel's waist. "Just...let us stay like this...for a little longer..."

Albel listened to her words, and complied without hesitation.

Without thinking about what they were doing, or why they were doing it, Albel and Nel stood there, in the middle of a dark cave, in each other's arms and wordlessly comforted one another in their troubled times... All the while Nel's frozen hand continued to slowly drip to the puddle on the ground beneath them.


	9. A Taste of Affection

**Chapter 9**

**A Taste of Affection**

Snapping back to reality, Nel found herself pressed against Albel's body, her arms wrapped around him with his arms caressing her waist gently.

'_What the-? Why am I hugging Albel? When did this happen?'_ her thoughts rambled on and on, yet she didn't pull away. _'And...why is he hugging back?'_ Nel felt Albel tighten his grip around her waist, drawing her cold body closer to his. _'He's so warm...'_

Albel was well aware of what he was doing, he just didn't completely understand why. _'I'm hugging her, and she's hugging back...'_ His arms pulled her in closer as he tightened his grip around her tiny waist. _'She's so cold...She isn't usually like this.'_ Albel bent his head so it fell to gently rest on Nel's cold shoulder. He heard a small gasp from Nel, which was quickly forgotten when she tilted her head to softly rest on his shoulder. _'Why are we doing this? We have no feelings for one another...do we?'_

Albel swiftly unwrapped his arms from around Nel and backed away, forcing her to release him as well.

-"Why are we doing this?" Albel asked, trying to keep his voice in check.

Nel just stared at him for a moment, trying to sort out her thoughts and feelings. "I-...I don't know..." she said softly, turning her gaze to stare at her feet. She was very cold now that Albel was gone, and was inwardly hoping that he's come back, even though she'd never admit it.

Albel sighed and approached her again. Nel looked up to gaze into his eyes as he looked down at her through his shaggy bangs.

-"Look, I-..." he started but cut himself off. "I-..." he grumbled and scratched his head dramatically with his good hand, then he looked back down at Nel. "How's your hand?" he asked.

Nel sighed, knowing that he was changing the subject on purpose to avoid the awkward topic. "It's better. I've almost got it all thawed." she said unenthusiastically and raised her hand so Albel could see.

Albel gently took her frozen hand in his right hand and raised it to his face so he could see it better in the dark. Nel watched him study her hand, still having lingering thoughts about what had happened between them seconds before.

'_When he was holding me, it was like nothing else in the world mattered in that short time. He was so warm and gentle...I can't even begin to imagine how such a cold, ruthless man could possibly have such a side as well...'_

-"Hey, Zelpher!" Nel blinked a few times and looked up at Albel who had dropped her hand and was snapping his fingers in her face. "Anyone in that red head of yours?"

Nel frowned and lightly slapped his hand out of her face. "I was just thinking. Is that really such a crime?" she mumbled irritably.

Albel smirked and leaned over so his nose was parallel with hers. "That depends. What were you thinking about?" he asked in a low voice, looking directly into Nel's eyes.

Nel silently gulped at the closeness of his face to hers. "Uh...um...," she stuttered and Albel slightly raised one eyebrow. "nothing important." she said, sounding a lot more convinced then she really was.

Albel looked at her a few seconds longer before backing off, aware of the breath Nel let out in a heap. "Whatever you say." he muttered. "I was looking at your hand, and you've still got a thick layer of ice on it, and judging by before, you've obviously exhausted yourself already..."he trailed off and closed his eyes.

Nel watched him anxiously, wondering what was going through his head at that moment. Suddenly, so fast that Nel almost missed it, Albel drew his katana and spun around, flinging it into the darkness, earning a screech of pain from some unseen animal.

Nel's skin crawled as the cry faded into the dark, silence falling over the two once again. "Albel, what did you do?" Nel asked softly, almost scared of breaking the silence. He motioned for her to follow him with his hand and casually strolled over to where Nel could just see his katana's handle sticking up. She hesitantly followed after him until he stopped. Nel peaked around Albel as he drew his sword free of it's victim, a small dragon; about the size of a large cat.

Albel turned around and held his sword horizontally out in front of him. Nel looked at the blade, which was coated in red fluid at the tip, and then as Albel. "What?" she asked blankly, having absolutely no idea where he was going with his.

It was blood. Yippee-Kai-Yay.

Albel vaguely pointed at the blood on the katana. "A dragon's blood had the ability to burn certain things at touch when it's still fresh. We can use some to melt away the rest of the ice on your hand."

Nel looked critically at the red substance that was threatening to drip from Albel's blade. "But, won't it burn through my skin as well?" she asked and lifted her frozen hand to look at it.

Albel nodded. "Normally it would, but I know how to prevent that from happening." he said calmly and tipped his katana so the drop of blood would flow down the edge of the blade again rather then fall.

Nel looked at her hand again, not fond of the idea of it possibly burning off. "I don't know..."

Albel looked up at her again and drew her eyes in to return his gaze. "What's wrong? Don't you trust me?"

His question caught her off guard. It was asked so...well, almost hopefully, as if he was hoping she trusted him. Nel looked in his light red eyes for another few seconds before answering.

-"Yes,...I trust you." she said softly and held her hand out.

Albel let out a very small smile upon hearing her answer and took her hand in his artificial one. "This won't hurt, but it'll feel a little strange."

-"You've done this before?"

Albel smirked. "I thought you said you trusted me."

-"I do. But that doesn't mean I can't still be a little anxious about this."

Albel didn't respond to her statement as he was now concentrating on the few drops of blood that were dripping off his katana's blade.

They strategically landed on the top of Nel's hand in three spots : One on her middle knuckle, one on her thumb's knuckle and another in the center of her hand. The three small red dots spread out over her hand almost instantly and got to work, melting the ice away.

Nel watched in amazement as the flow of cold water trickled down her palm and onto Albel's metal hand before dropping to the ground.

After about a minute, a thin layer of semi-frozen ice was all that remained on Nel's hand. This was when her anxieties rose to the surface again. Will the dragon blood stop when the ice was all gone? Or will it keep going and burn through her skin?

The drops of blood broke through the remaining ice and came into contact with Nel's skin. At first, it only felt like a mild tingling sensation. But soon, Nel found herself biting her bottom lip and clenching her free hand into a fist as the tingling evolved into pain.

Albel watched the blood carefully as it finished off the last of the ice and spread out over Nel's bare hand. _'I must of started too soon...'_ he thought and raised Nel's hand higher, lightly blowing on it to help the stinging stop. "It's almost over, just a little longer..." he said softly under his breath as he continued to blow on Nel's hand.

Nel was taking the pain, but not enjoying it. _'That jerk! He said it wouldn't burn my hand.'_ She stifled a cry of pain as he hand continued to take a beating from the dragon's blood, then suddenly, it stopped.

Nel unclenched her fist and looked down at the hand Albel was still blowing cold air onto. The red blood was still visible on her hand, but now it only felt like a warm liquid. No more burning, no more hurting.

She looked back up at Albel, who was studying her hand closely again.

-"How did you do that?" she asked softly, still watching him.

-"Do what?" Albel mumbled and wiped the dragon blood off her hand.

-"How did you make the blood stop burning my hand?" Nel tried her question again.

Albel gave her hand one more check before letting it fall to her side. "I didn't make it stop, it just ran out of juice." Albel said vaguely, "I told you that _fresh_ dragon blood could burn things. It was only a matter of time before the blood went stale and lost it's ability to burn."

Nel lifted her hand to look at it and saw that there was only a small area near her thumb that had been burned. She looked back up at Albel and smiled at him. "Thanks Albel, you really helped me out there."

Albel looked back at her for a second before turning his back on her. "Bah"

Nel frowned. "Why do you always have to be like that? I'm showing you my appreciation for your help, don't be such a grouch about it."

Albel turned back to face her and rolled his eyes. "A Better way for you to show your appreciation would be to stop nagging at me. That'd be a start at least."

Nel crossed her arms over her chest. _'So it's a fight he wants, eh?'_ "Well, I personally think that saying 'thank you' isn't as bad as it's cracked up to be in your twisted up world. And I'm not nagging at you, I'm simply stating the truth: You're Depressing."

Albel crossed his arms over is chest in a mock imitation of her pose. "You are so nagging at me, you might not realize it, but you are. I admit that my life isn't all sunshine and flowers, but neither is yours. You might not realize this either, but sometimes you're just as depressing as I am."

Nel huffed and turned away from him. "You know what, this isn't worth my time. Let's just get moving again before anything else decides to give us a hard time."

And with that said, she proceeded to walk away from him, into the pitch black.

Albel glared at the back of her red head for another few seconds before hurrying after her, not wanting to loose her in the intimidating darkness.


	10. Another Tight Situation

**Chapter 10**

**Another Tight Situation and Some Feelings Revealed**

Within the half hour that Albel and Nel had been walking in complete darkness, Albel had discovered something both amazing, and disturbing at the same time.

He _loved_ Nel.

Okay, love is an awfully big word. Albel _liked_ Nel. That's closer to what was going on.

It was amazing, because an individual as corrupt and dark as Albel the Wicked was thought to be beyond help, unable to care for anyone. It was also disturbing for the same reason. How could his feelings towards Nel Zelpher have changed so dramatically, in such a small amount of time? More importantly, is it for real? Or is his mind playing tricks on him? It's not like it would be the first time he had read his feelings completely wrong and ended up knee deep in problems.

Next issue on the agenda: How was he going to handle these new feelings? He still wasn't sure if they were even real. Should he ignore them? Os should he acknowledge them and try to give Nel some small hints about how he felt towards her? Either way, he had to know what was going on withing himself before even trying to do anything about it.

So, he'd wait. Wait and see it these emotions would evolve into something more, or take a nose dive and be forgotten. A sure fire way of figuring out what the hell was going on. It was win/win.

Although, Albel was still finding it hard to think of himself being anything but mean and disrespectful towards Nel, let alone loving her!

He glanced over at Nel, who was walking beside him, and scanned her features, making his cheeks turn light red before her hurriedly looked away. It's like when he looked at her now, he saw a totally different person then who he had seen a few days ago. He used ti see a snotty, stuck-up, nosy, warrior-girl who seemed to take pleasure in bugging him. Now, he saw a beautiful, strong-hearted, caring, and...-dare he say it?- curvy goddess who seemed to be growing onto him, big time.

This was all too much for Albel. It was so very unnatural to even be thinking about these things. There were and are plenty of beautiful women in Airyglyph, but none of them seemed to even be comparable with Nel now that he really thought about it.

He was falling behind slightly from Nel, who was bow walking just in front of him. It was so dark that he could barley see the pebbly ground beneath his feet. Suddenly, a cracking sound was heard on his left, making his jump slightly. Nel didn't seem to notice it, so Albel paid no mind. _'It's solid rock on both sides of us right now, so that was probably just a loose stone of something.'_ he thought and continued his stroll behind Nel.

Soon after, he heard an even louder crumbling sound and looked up to his left to see what was going on. Ahead of him, Nel heard the noise and stopped to look up as well.

Albel didn't see anything out of the ordinary at first. He was looking at a rock wall, nothing more. But as a few small rocks hit him in the head, despite the dark, he thought differently. He could now just make out the shape of a rather large boulder, accompanied by some smaller ones, coming down on the two.

Albel hurriedly turned and ran forward towards Nel, who was still staring up at the rock avalanche.

-"Fool, move!" he yelled out at Nel, who jerked out of shock and looked at Albel, frozen on the spot for another second before turning to run. She only got a few unsteady steps farther before turning her head again and seeing the largest boulder coming right at her. Albel saw what was happening and sped up to get to her in time. "Watch out!"

Albel leaped, literally, scooped Nel into his arms and avoided the large boulder by speeding to get in front of it. However, I cannot say that they avoided the other rocks. Nel watched in silent horror as the other rock came tumbling down on Albel as he continued to shakily run away from danger, with Nel tightly held in his arms. He gritted his teeth as rocks hit his back and head while he struggled to keep Nel covered.

Finally, a larger rock hit him square in the head, knocking him out. Nel stood quickly as his hold on her loosened and caught him before he fell to the ground. But the avalanche didn't stop.

'_Where are all these rocks coming from! I have to get us out of here.'_ Nel thought as she awkwardly got one of Albel's arms around her shoulder and proceeded to half drag him out of harm's way with one arm around his waist.

Eventually, the rocks stopped falling. Nel hadn't received too many injuries, but she was certain she was going to have all sorts of bruises in the morning. She looked back at the mess they had just survived and sighed. _'I guess we're not going back that way. It's completely caved in.'_

She then looked at Albel, who's head had managed to find it's way to her shoulder. _'He saved me again...I'm going to owe him big when we get out of here.'_ She looked ahead of her, seeing nothing but darkness. _'I'd better find us somewhere to rest until he wakes up.'_ she thought.

With a sudden feeling of determination, Nel found the strength she didn't know she had and slowly walked forward, carefully holding Albel, as not to drop him on the ground and get his clothes dirty.

If she did, she would surely hear about it later.


	11. The Closest of Calls

**Chapter 11**

**The Closest of Calls**

After awhile, Nel found a spot to sit down, put Albel down, and rest. It wasn't anywhere special. Nel just walked until she got tiered and stopped where she was, deciding that it would be good enough.

Albel was still out cold, not that she could blame him. It had taken a real thrashing to knock him out, and she doubted he was going to wake up soon. Nel looked over at Albel, who she had laid down not too far away from her, within reach if there was an attack. Nel had to admit, his heroics had surprised her, and impressed her too. He had sounded so concerned for her when he saw the boulder coming at her...This definitely wasn't the same Albel Nox she had entered this cave with.

As Nel looked over at his sleeping face, she noticed that there were some small differences there as well. He looked more peaceful, almost calm as he slept...But then again, maybe that was just because he was unconscious from being wacked in the head numerous times. Even when he was awake though, Nel had noticed that he was more quiet then usual, and he didn't seem to call her foul names such as 'worm' or 'maggot' nearly as much as before.

'_No that I mind. I could use without the name calling.'_

Nel leaned back against the cave wall. She was hurting all over. Her legs, her arms, her back, and most of her muscles were all throbbing. Even the muscles she didn't know she had hurt!

'_This is just great! I'm so sore I can barley stand up! I'm not moving from this spot unless absolutely necessary for as long as possible.'_ she thought sourly and closed one eye, keeping the other one alert for danger.

Well, it turns out that 'absolutely necessary' was 10 minutes later.

Nel opened her other eye as she heard a thumping sound. With each sound, the ground shook, and the tremors were getting more and more noticeable

-"Something's coming." she muttered and hastily stood up. _'It's probably another dragon...This is just what I need! It's worse enough I have to carry Albel around everywhere, but now I've got a fire breathing lizard after me!'_

Nel, with some difficulty, managed to lift Albel back up so she could get his arm around her neck and her arm around his waist before starting a swift walk the opposite way the large footsteps were coming from.

After the first minute of her struggled walk, Nel became all too aware that the dragon was gaining on her and Albel, who was still out cold. Nel was under stress, lots of it. 'C'mon Albel! You're a big boy, wake up and use your legs so I can stop having to drag you everywhere!' Nel thought, desperately hoping that Albel-the-dead-weight would wake up soon.

The sound and trembling that implied the monster was closing in drowned Nel's every thought and sense. They were going to die if that thing caught up with them, and if it did catch up with them, Nel would probably have to leave Albel and try to fight it off, even though she knew it was almost completely useless to even try. She'd lose, and Albel would suffer because of her weakness. That didn't sit well with Nel, giving her more reason to continue her quick walk, thinking there might be somewhere suitable for them to hide until the dragon went by.

Nel sped up a little bit, tightening her grip on Albel. She was going to get them to safety, if it was the last thing she did.

Suddenly, the ground seemed to disappear from beneath Nel's feet, and I'm not talking about the term of speech. Oh no, we're talking literally.

Nel's eyes widened as she felt herself falling. She hadn't been paying attention to where she was going, and now she found herself falling into a narrow, yet deep, pit. Nel hastily fumbled for her dagger at her side, hoping to stop them from falling down too deep...or hitting the bottom. She got it free and forcefully jammed it into the rock wall that was quickly passing by in front of her. The blade screeched in discomfort as it tore through the rock until it stuck, jerking Nel to an abrupt stop.

The sudden stop caught Nel off guard, making her lose the firm grip she had on Albel's middle, allowing him to slip from her grasp. Nel panicked as she fumbled for any part of Albel that would stop him from falling to his doom.

-"Albel!" she exclaimed in a frantic voice as her hand found his just before he dropped out of reach. Albel's body dangled limply now, the only thing keeping him from falling was Nel's hand, which was griping his as hard as possible.

Nel bit her lip. That had been way too close for comfort...She thought she had been under stress before, if only she had known this was going to happen. A rumbling sound made Nel's head shoot up so she could see the troublesome dragon easily step over the hole they were in and continue it's leisurely stroll. Well, that was one less problem for Nel to juggle, no more dragon.

But now she had lots more problems then before. Nel looked down at Albel and dearly wished he'd wake up soon, as in now. Her grip on his hand wasn't all that secure, and she really didn't want to drop him...Don't ask why, she just knew she didn't. It would be the most profitable choice though, he _was_ weighing her down, and if this kept up, she would fall along with him.

Nel shook her head vigorously and tightened her already firm grip on her companion, no, her friend. _'I'm not dropping him. There has been so many opportunities for Albel to just let me go rather then help me, and now that it's my turn to return the favor, I'm thinking about just letting go of him? No way! If he dies, I die too.'_

With that though, Albel's hand suddenly became very slippery, or maybe it was Nel's hand...Either way, she was losing him, he was slipping out of her grip.

Nel tried to get a hold of him again, but with no luck. He was falling now. Albel was drifting farther and farther away from Nel's outstretched hand, almost slowly. Nel felt her heart lurch as it dawned on her that she would never see him again. His grin, his shaggy and unkept hair, the look on his face when he insulted her, or the cringe with every touch she gave him.

Her was almost out of sight now. Nel opened her mouth and let out a terrified scream. "**ALBEL!**"

Her voice echoed off the sharp walls of the pit before reaching Albel's ears, and waking him from his slumber.

His eyes shot open.

It only took a split second for him to figure out what was happening before he took action. With deadly fast reflexes, Albel grabbed for his katana and unsheathed it, jamming it securely into the rock wall, much the same as what Nel had done with her dagger. He lurched to an abrupt stop and grabbed the katana's handle with his other hand to steady himself.

Nel felt relief flood her body and soul. "Albel! Are you okay!" she called down at him, adjusting herself so that she could hold onto her dagger with both hands. Albel quickly looked up and saw Nel dangling there.

-"What do you think! I go unconscious for once in a blue moon and I wake up to find myself falling down a pit!" he grumbled. "My trust in you is so shot now..."

Nel smirked. He was going to be just fine.

-"Hey Zelpher,"

Nel looked back down at him to see him jam his clawed hand into the rock wall and pull out his katana. He swung up and stuck the blade back in a little higher up before hoisting himself up and driving his claw in again higher up, making a climbing game out of it. Albel looked back up at her once he was closer. "Are you going to be alright?"

Nel was only slightly caught off guard. Albel had been acting a lot nicer to her recently, for reasons she couldn't even begin to imagine. "Yeah, I'll be fine. As long as I don't slip that is..." she said and adjusted her hands on her dagger's handle.

Albel was still climbing closer. "You better not fall. If you do, I'm not going down after you." Albel said with a hint of sarcasm as he got up beside her. Nel looked at him as he passed her right by and climbed over the edge of the pit and out of view. Nel panicked for a second when he didn't immediately return.

-"Albel?" she called uncertainly.

Surely enough, Albel came back into view and laid down on his stomach, stretching his normal arm down towards her. Nel reached up and took his hand. Pulling her dagger out of the wall, she let him pull her up and out of the pit with ease.

Nel plopped down on the ground and replaced her weapon in it's pouch. Albel sat down beside her. "Though I'd left without you?" he asked in a slightly irritated tone. Nel breathed in deep a few times before answering.

-"Yes, I actually did for a second there. But I knew you'd come back. Like I told you before, I trust you."

Albel smirked. "So, might I ask why you decided to hurtle us both down that pit?"

Nel rolled her eyes. "I didn't do it on purpose, stupid. We were being chased by a dragon, and I guess I wasn't looking where I was going, so I walked right into it."

Albel sheathed his katana. "And then you decide to drop me?"

Nel huffed. "I didn't drop you on purpose either, your hand slipped. We're just lucky you woke up."

Albel nodded. "I'm just lucky you screamed, I wouldn't of woken up if you hadn't."

Nel turned slightly pink in the face. "I didn't scream that loud..."

Albel smirked. "Oh yes you did. All of Ellicor could've easily heard that."

Nel lightly punched Albel in the arm. "Oh, be quiet." Albel stood up and Nel followed suit. "What should we do now?" Nel asked as she lightly dusted off her shirt. Albel shrugged.

-"Just keep walking I guess. We haven't seen Michael for awhile so all there really is to do is walk around and see if we can find him."

Nel nodded. "Let's go this way. I came from over there when the dragon was chasing me."

Albel nodded and started walking away when he noticed Nel wasn't following him. "Are you coming or what?" he asked and turned to se Nel staring down at her feet.

-"Hey Albel," she spoke softly, "I wanted to thank you for saving me again back there with the rocks. I don't know what happened, when I saw them coming at me, I just froze up. I couldn't move..."

Albel waved his hand vaguely. "Stop thanking me already, you're making me feel like I'm on the spot! Besides, you saved me too back there, just call it even. Okay?"

Nel looked up at him for a few long seconds before nodding. "Sure. Okay."

She slowly walked (more like stumbled) up beside him and they both continued to venture deeper into the hell hole cave.

-"Are you going to be okay? You don't look so hot, and you can't even walk in a straight line." Albel asked as Nel bumped into him by accident.

-"I'll be fine Albel. Just tell me ahead of time if there's any pits coming up, okay?"

-"Deal."


	12. Mind Control

ARG! sorry it took way too long for me to update! It's just that school's been a bitch for the last couple weeks and I didn't have enough time to trype this one out right away. Plus I had a major case of writer's block! Ugg. Anyways, Read, Enjoy, Review!

MelanieStar

* * *

**Chapter 12**

**Mind Control, The Oldest Trick in the Book**

This was getting very, very old.

Albel and Nel were walking around in the dark again, an activity that they seemed to be constantly taking part in.

Albel was getting so fed up, he just wanted out. Screw the brat Michael, screw the blueprints, and screw this god damn cave! It was dark, it was cold, he was hungry, not to mention thirsty, and his female companion was constantly keeping him on edge. Why did she have to walk so close to him? Couldn't she just move over a little bit?

Seemed like too much to ask of the red-headed princess.

He understood that she probably couldn't see squat, and didn't want to get separated from him, seeing as he didn't particularly want to be separated from her either, but gods! Does she really have to be so freakin' close!

Naturally, Albel had gotten himself into such a maelstrom of thoughts that he wasn't looking where he was going,(not that he could anyway), so he didn't see the little object that was laying on the ground in front of him.

-"Woah!" Albel exclaimed as he stumbled over the object, catching himself before he fell on his face.

Nel jumped when he yelled, being very close to him. "What? What happened!" she asked hurriedly, one hand on the hilt of her dagger. Albel looked down at the culprit and kneeled down to get a closer look. Nel kneeled down beside him. "Why, that's-...!" she whispered when she saw it.

Albel reached down and touched the fist sized rock, nearly jumping out his skin when a bright light flashed out of it. He quickly pulled his hand back and broke contact with the stone, the light leaving as fast as it had come.

-"What is that?" Albel asked in a choked voice. Nel slowly reached out and picked up the stone, squinting her eyes as the light filled the cave once more. Albel used one hand to shield his eyes. Nel turned the rock over in her hand.

-"This is...a LightStone..." she whispered, sounding like she was having a hard time believing her own words.

-"It's a what?" Albel asked blankly and let his hand fall from his face, as he was used to the brightness.

-"A Lightstone. When you touch it, it releases light...As I recall, Fayt was the only one in this area that had one, and that would mean..."

-"That the fool has already been this way." Albel finished for her, catching on quickly.

They stood up and dusted themselves off, realizing how dirty they really were now that they could see properly. Looking at each other, they couldn't help but remember all the crap they'd put up with up 'till now.

Albel's eyes looked tiered. He had dried blood on his neck and in spots on his arm. Nel's arms were bruised from all the rocks that had hit her previously, and some time in the last day or two she had unknowingly received bloody scratches on her legs, not to mention the rips in her clothes from their first encounter with a dragon.

Trying their hardest not to pity each other, they turned and continued their walk, only now, they had a light to guide them.

-"So, do you figure Fayt and the others are still in here?" Nel asked as they turned a corner. Albel shrugged.

-"How should I know? However, I do know that the maggot wouldn't of dropped something so important on purpose. As soon as you let it go, the light stops, so he couldn't of just dropped it and not noticed. I figure something made him drop it, or he was running from something and couldn't go back for it once it was out of his grasp."

Nel tensed slightly. "You think a dragon was after him?"

Albel nodded. "That would make the most sense."

Nel bit her lip. "I hope he's okay..."

Albel huffed. "He's a big boy Zelpher, he can take care of himself, which is more then I can say about you."

Nel frowned and dropped her head slightly, looking at the ground that was going by underneath her. "Shut up," she mumbled quietly, making Albel look at her. "I know I haven't been all that much help so far...No matter what I do, it always seems to backfire, or not be good enough, you know?" She looked up and locked gazes with Albel for a second before looked back ahead of her.

Albel looked at her for another couple seconds before crossing his arms and looking ahead of him as well. "I know what you mean." he said quietly, almost in a whisper.

Nel looked up at him again, then the smallest of smiles played across her lips. "Thanks Albel."

Albel looked at her again. "What?"

Nel shook her head, "Nothing."

They walked further down into the cave, inwardly thankful for their new found light source.

Not much was happening in Nel's opinion. Usually by now they would've been attacked by a dragon, or even Michael, not to mention have rocks decide to rain down on them. By normal standards, this was peaceful. Nice even. _'Maybe the gods have decided to give us a break.'_ Nel thought to herself.

But as a lone figure suddenly appeared out of thin air in front of them, Nel realized that she had spoken to soon... Michael, looking more tiered then ever, stood in front of them now, causing Albel to stop walking out of shock. "What the...?"

-"Michael! What are you...?" Nel started, but cut off as she saw the bright purple light that engulfed his whole right hand, negative energy radiating off the light in long wisps.

Nel panicked. That was the symbological sign for the Mind Control spell, a spell so advanced that even Nel hadn't been granted the privilege of learning it yet.

This was bad.

-"Michael, don't! You don't know what you're doing!" she said, choking up as she spoke.

Albel turned abruptly to look at her. _'She looks scared. What's this kid up to to be able to get a soldier like Zelpher so strung up?'_

Suddenly, Michael lifted his glowing hand. "I know exactly what I'm doing. I'm putting you two up against one another, that way I can make an easy get away and not have to worry about being followed." he said in monotone, as if he wasn't really there.

Nel shook her head in disbelief. _'The spell's too strong for him, he's in a half daze himself!'_ "No Michael! We just want to take you back to Aquios so we can treat your mother's illness! Why can't you understand that!"

Michael just looked at her with distaste. "Because, I've learned not to listen to liars." he said and flexed his hand, releasing the purple ball in one blast and aiming for...Albel?

Nel's eyes widened as she watched the spell shoot right by her ear and continue on to Albel. "Albel! Watch out!" she called hurriedly, turning to face him a little too slow for her liking.

Albel moved to one side so quickly that he fell to the ground, narrowly avoiding the spell...too bad for him that the Mind Control spell is target seeking. It swerved around and hit him in the back.

Both Nel and Albel's eyes reflected horror as the purple light flooded over Albel's body, engulfing him entirely. Albel looked up at Nel, giving her a perfect view of his pained and terrified eyes before they glazed over, emotionless.

-"No..." Nel whispered quietly. Behind her, Michael smirked.

Albel shakily got to his feet and flexed his claws, watching Nel closely. A smirk spread over his lips.

-"You're dead." His voice echoed under the control of Michael's own voice. The sheer sound of it caused a shiver to run up Nel's spine. She bit her lip. This was not good. It seemed as though Michael had easily taken control over Albel's body, giving him complete control.

Nel shot a look at Michael, only to see him disappear into thin air once again. She quickly looked back at Albel to see that he was still bathed in the purple light, and still under Michael's command.

'_How is this possible! Even the most advanced symbologists of Aquios have to be in the same general area as their puppet to be able to keep control over it! How could Michael just leave and still have Albel under his spell!'_

Nel did not have as much time to consider the possibilities as she would've liked however. The sound of a blade being unsheathed brought her back to reality, making Nel all too aware that Albel was coming at her, his katana glowing as brightly as he was.

The Lightstone secure in her fist, Nel did the only thing she could do: She ran.

'_Mind Control spells don't usually last that long, seeing as the mind of the person being controlled wears down the spell with time. All I have to do is keep Albel busy long enough for the spell to wear off...'_ Nel chanced a quick glance behind her. Albel was already gaining on her. "Easier said then done." she muttered.

Nel really didn't want to have to hurt Albel, but she knew that with two people fighting over control of one body, he was bound to be a little slower then usual. _'That's a last resort. I won't hurt him unless he really does try to kill me.'_

Suddenly, something hit Nel in the back, hard. Tumbling forward and gasping for breath, Nel turned so she would land on her back. Pain shot up her spinal cord as she landed on the hard ground.

Looking up, Nel violently rolled herself sideways as Albel drove his sword down, putting a hole in the ground where her head had just been.

-"Albel please, snap out of it!" she exclaimed and rolled again to avoid another attack from his blade. "Don't let Michael have control over you!"

While Albel was pulling his weapon out of the ground, Nel took this as an opportunity to get away. She rolled onto her knees and jumped to her feet. Although, her escape was short lived as she felt Albel's claw grab her ankle and pull her back down. She reached for her dagger, but Albel had her pinned to the ground before she even touched the hilt.

Nel tried frantically to get away but to no avail as Albel hastily let go of her ankle and pinned both her legs down with his own and hovered over her.

-"Albel, please, don't do this." Nel said quietly, her voice cracking as Albel leaned over and clamped his claw around her neck firmly. Nel reached up with both hands and gently held his metallic wrist, carful to keep the LightStone in contact with her skin. "I know you don't want to be like this. You said so yourself, Michael's just a kid, don't let him control you so easily..."

Albel's eyes wavered for a second but quickly reverted back to an emotionless stare. Very shakily, he lifted his katana and slanted it down so it's tip met Nel's face.

But she didn't seem to notice, Nel was still concentrating on Albel's eyes. "The Albel I know wouldn't stand for this. He would've gotten this kid out of his head in an instant and gone looking to slit his troat, not just stand aside while the little brat with the bad attitude just took over." she said quietly, as she was starting to have some difficulty breathing.

Albel growled low, the echo of Michael's voice still present. The claw around Nel's neck tightened, making her wince in pain. "Albel, please...I'm begging you...snap out of it...!" Nel choked out, barley audible.

Not that it seemed to faze him whatsoever. Albel lifted the blade away from Nel's face and waited a few long seconds before jabbing it forward towards Nel's jaw.

Nel closed her eyes and waited for death. _'I won't harm him, not that I could even if I wanted to. He needs to survive and get out of this cave...'_ A single tear escaped her eye. _'I just wish I could get out with him...'_

Seconds passed, and there was no excruciating pain, no nothing. Nel hesitantly opened her eyes.

The katana's blade was inches away from Ne's cheek, and it was shaking violently. She looked up at Albel in disbelief. He was fighting, fighting against Michael,...and winning! Nel felt the claw on her neck loosen and quickly took in a full breath, needing the oxygen badly.

She heard a clatter as Albel's sword fell to the ground beside her head and felt relief flood over her as he removed his claw away from her neck.

Slowly, Albel moved back off Nel's legs and kneeled in front of her, hiding his eyes behind his hair. Nel watched him closely as she got to her knees. Was he back to normal? It was always hard to tell with the Mind control spell.

She hesitantly reached out and touched his shoulder. "Albel?...Are you alright?" she asked quietly.

Albel looked up at her, showing his pale red eyes. He was back. He looked right in her eyes with the most emotion Nel had ever seen this man use all at once. She took her hand away. "Albel?" she asked again.

Slowly, as if in a daze, Albel reached out to her with both hands. Nel flinched and almost backed away, still a little unsure about his condition. Albel gently put one hand on each of Nel's shoulders and slowly pulled her in, wrapping his arms around her cold body. He reached up with his good hand and placed it behind her head, stroking her red hair.

Nel remained still, unsure of what to do. Finally, Albel spoke to her. "I...I couldn't control my body..." His voice was choked and forced, as if he was just learning how to use it. "I could see what was happening, but I-...I couldn't stop myself..." his voice cracked and Nel became fully aware that Albel was back. A little bit traumatized perhaps, but back to normal none the less.

Nel hesitantly leaned in and rested her head on Albel's chest. She didn't know why, but something about him and being in his arms made her feel...peaceful. As if everything was going to be alright so long as she kept him close. But right now, Albel Nox needed some soothing words to calm him down.

-"Albel, it's okay. I-"

-"No, it's not okay!" Albel cut her off, pulling her closer. "I almost killed you...You almost died, and it would've been all my fault..." His voice died off as he tightened his hold on Nel, almost protectively.

Nel didn't know how to respond to that. Here he was, 'Albel-the-so-called-Wicked', hugging her, telling her that it would've been his fault is she had gotten hurt...

'_Weird...'_

-"Albel,...it's not your fault at all. You haven't had the training to prepare yourself for a mental attack from spells like that one. I've had the training and even then, it's extremely difficult to break the spell. I'm surprised that you managed to get loose of that spell at all..." Nel said softly.

Albel gently pulled away enough so he could look in her eyes.

-"I still should've been able to stop it sooner. I would've never forgiven myself if I'd hurt you."

Nel looked into Albel's eyes and felt her heart skip a beat or two. What was this feeling she was experiencing? When she looked into his eyes, she felt warm and happy, no matter how corny that sounded.

He was looking at her and no one else.

She was special.

Nel gave him a little smile before she reached up and wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him close so her chin could rest on his shoulder.

-"I'm fine Albel, you're okay too. Everything's going to turn out in the end, you'll see." she said softly into his ear.

Albel pulled her closer with his arms around her back and breathed in the smell of her red locks.

-"I hope you're right Nel, I hope you're right..."


	13. Red Eyes

**Chapter 13**

**Red Eyes**

Those were the strangest couple of minutes Nel had experienced in all her years working for the Queen of Aquios. She had no idea that people, in general, could change their very way of life for reasons they did not understand.

But as Albel Nox held her close and continued to whisper apologies and thanks into her ear, Nel was brought to the realization that Albel the Wicked had changed. Not a change of appearance, no. Even with all the wounds and dirt that had been added recently, he had not changed physically. But on the inside, the side that counts, that was a different story.

Although Nel could not see into Albel's soul to figure out what was going on, she could tell things were shifting. He was becoming more...open towards her, gentler, and ever, nicer. He's saved her life more times then she could remember, he's shown warmth in places she thought he had none, and he'd actually called her by her first name!

You can't blame Nel for being a little bit moved by this, any woman would be. Nel liked the old Albel as well (as much as it pained her to admit it), the one who was mouthy, violent, and rude, because he never overdid it. He always seemed to know where the line way, and rarely did he cross it. It would be unnatural for him to completely change over to a goodie goodie, but Nel knew that no one had asked or told him to change at all, he just had, which made it okay. Albel was still being himself, he was just showing her his other side, the gentler one.

Which opened up another door full of questions. Why was he opening up to _her_? Why was he hugging _her_? She wasn't anything special to him, was she?

This was all so confusing for Nel...What was she going to do?...She knew not what her feelings for Albel were. She knew that she felt reassured and safe when he was near, and she took pleasure in his touch, the way he held her close when she needed comfort. She knew that she no longer detested him the way she used to, and that she felt this strong urge to help him whenever he needed her...

But was that love? Nel had no idea.

Nel relaxed into Albel's embrace, basking in the comfort and warmth he was providing. _'This feels so right...I wish we could stay like this forever...'_ she thought dreamily.

Albel held the red head close, not wanting to let go, but knowing that this couldn't possibly last forever, no matter how much he wished it would.

He knew now. He knew what was going on. He had faced a plate full of scrambled up memories and emotions and had taken the time to sort them all out. He knew now, and was openly confessing to himself, that he cared very deeply for the woman who he was currently holding. The full extent of these emotions, how deep they ran, however, was still blurry. Furthermore, he no longer doubted what his mind had been trying to tell him for heaven knows how long: He was going to let nothing harm this beauty, even if it killed him.

Nel was not to be harmed, not while he was around.

But, was he to tell her this? Sure she had recently showed some rather personal emotions to him, giving Albel the impression that she felt the same way more or less, but...what if she didn't? If he was to suddenly pout his heart out to her, something he never imagined himself ever doing for anybody, and she didn't feel the same, it would just scare her off and break his self-confidence (and perhaps his heart), and that was the last thing Albel wanted to do.

Maybe he should just let her confront him instead...As if she ever would though. If she feels the same way, she's probably just as scared of rejection as he is.

What a predicament...Why do feelings always have to be so complicated?

Albel felt Nel slightly loosen her hold on him and pull away enough to look in his eyes. Albel gave her some slack and loosened his grip as well.

-"What's happening to us?" he heard her say in a small voice. He gave her one of his trademark smirks and brushed her red hair to the side so he could see her beautiful violet eyes.

-"I don't know Zelpher, why don't you tell me."

-"I would, but I'm just as confused as you are." Nel muttered as she studied his light red eyes, having never been close enough to appreciate their beautiful color.

Only now was her gaze making Albel a little uncomfortable. Why was she looking so intently at his eyes? What was she seeing that appeared so interesting to her all of a sudden?

-"Your eyes...I never noticed what a beautiful color they are..." Nel mumbled quietly, still looking at him distractedly.

So that was it? She liked that color of his eyes?

Albel abruptly released Nel and backed away from her, turning his head so she couldn't see his eyes in the light of the stone she held. Nel frowned when she was forced to release him.

-"Did I say something wrong?" she asked softly.

Albel shot her a look before turning and walking away. Nel stood there, confused. _'What did I do now?'_ she wondered as she hurried to catch up with him, the Lightstone secure in her hand.

-"Albel, what did I say? Why are you so upset all of a sudden!" she called to him as she came up beside him, but he didn't stop walking. "Are you listening to me? Albel!"

Nel grabbed his right hand, only to have Albel spin around and twist her arm with a flick of his wrist, forcing her to let go.

-"It's nothing worm, just leave it be and let's keep going." he said, not even bothering to look at her as he turned and kept walking.

This pissed Nel off.

-"I know you well enough to know when you're lying to avoid my question. I'm not that stupid, Albel."

This stopped Albel in his tracks. "Well then, if you're not that stupid, hopefully you're also not stupid enough not to know when to drop a subject, like _now_!" he said bitterly, turning and stalking back in Nel's direction, his expression dangerous.

Nel's jaw almost dropped, but she stopped it short. "I just want to know why you're suddenly in such a fowl mood! Did you ever stop to think that maybe I'm the slightest bit concerned about you!"

Albel paused for a second before answering. "I don't need your concern, woman."

Nel brought a hand up to sub one temple. "I don't know why I even bother worrying...And you're avoiding my question again!"

-"Damn straight. I don't feel like spilling my life story to you right now, or anytime soon for that matter." Albel grumbled and crossed his arms over his chest.

Nel raised an eyebrow. "Life story, eh? So this question is digging into your past, is it?"

Albel threw his hands in the air out of frustration and turned to walk away again. "I can't take anymore! Do you try to be nosy or does it just some naturally? You're going to drive me crazy if I don't get out of here!" He stalked off into the dark. "Where's the exit to this god damn cave!"

Nel stood her ground, knowing full well that he'd come back soon.

A minute passed before Albel came back into the glow of the Lightstone.

-"I couldn't see up ahead." he said quietly, sounding slightly ashamed.

Nel smirked. "I'm not moving from this spot until I get an answer out of you." she said and shifted her weight to one leg.

-"Then I guess we're never leaving this cave..." Albel huffed.

Nel pursed her lips. "Do you try to be this stubborn or does that just come naturally alongside your attitude?"

Albel frowned. "That's for me to know and for you to never find out." he said bitterly.

-"Why do you have to be so moody! A minute ago, a could've easily mistaken you for a _nice_ person, what happened? All I did was compliment you on your nice eye color and-"

-"That's just it." Albel cut her off short. "My eyes are as big of a disgrace to me as my left arm is." he lifted his mechanical arm and flexed his claws. "I got this eyes color when I lost my arm."

Nel fell silent. _'So that's why he was so grumpy, it's a sensitive subject to him...'_ Albel put his arm down again and folded his arms over his chest, avoiding Nel's gaze. "Albel, I had no idea that-"

-"When the dragon took my father's life instead of my own, as well as my left arm, I was scarred. All the joy and warmth was sucked out of my teenage body in that short time... I didn't want to live anymore. I wished so dearly that the dragon would come back and finish me off..."

Albel fell silent and Nel felt her heart go out to him. He'd been through so much...Sure, she'd lost her father at a young age as well, but she'd never experienced anything close to what this man had endured.

-"And sometime during the incident, my eyes changed from their normal blue, to red. I still don't know why to this day...I think it's a reminder of the things I saw and the pain I felt." Albel finished and finally locked eyes with Nel.

-"I-...I'm sorry Albel. I wouldn't of said anything if I'd known about that." she said quietly, regretting ever saying anything. Daring, Nel felt like speaking her mind. "But...I still think the color of your eyes is beautiful..."

Albel huffed. "That's also why it's so ironic that you actually like the color...It's the scar of a terrible memory, and yet it's still called _beautiful_..."

Nel looked at him a moment longer before breaking out of her inner trance. "We'd better get going."

Albel nodded. "We've wasted enough time chit-chatting, let's keep moving." He proceeded to walk away, Nel hurrying to catch up.

-"I don't think it was a waste of time." she said when she caught up.

Albel hesitated for a minute before saying ever so softly: "Neither do I." before picking up speed so he wouldn't be caught in Nel's shocked gaze.

* * *

**  
Hi. Next chapter is up and running! Took me a little longer to update, sorry! School's being a bitch because we've got Report Card day on Tuesday and all my teachers are in SUPER TEST mode in order to get the marks they need for the cards of doom! (I hate report card day, even though I usually don't do too badly...)**

**I completely made up the whole eye color change thing for the sake of filling up this chapter! If you don't like the concept, by all means, don't go too hard on me! It's been a long week and I was lucky to get on this computer long enough to type this out at all:S**

**Reviews are appreciated! Peace y'all,**

**MelanieStar**


	14. Deception's Sweet Kiss

**Chapter 14**

**Deception's Sweet Kiss**

One thing Albel and Nel could both agree on is that the Lightstone was a very valuable addition to their inventory. Nel was the one who they decided was best to carry the stone, seeing as her MP was so low that she could barely conjure up a small fire ball to light some wood, let alone use runology to defend herself in battle. That left her with her daggers, even though carrying the Lightstone limited her to one hand. They both knew, and Nel openly confessed, that in their current states, Albel was indeed in better condition then Nel to fight and defend them.

-"Once again, I'm stuck playing the superhero." Albel grumbled as they walked. Nel lifted the stone a little higher so the light hit him in the face, making him twitch before she put it down again.

-"Stop complaining already. If I had the choice, I would be the one to watch out for danger, not you. Right now, I hate to admit it, but I don't think I could defend myself against anything much bigger then you are." Nel admitted.

-"Then I guess we're just going to have to be more careful then, aren't we?" Albel said with a hint of something in his voice.

Nel turned on him. "What so you mean by _more_ carful? We're already taking every precaution in the book seriously."

Albel didn't look at her. "I'm just saying that maybe some of us need to stay a little more alert, you know, in case any unexpected holes turn up."

Nel's jaw hung slack for a good two seconds before words were formed. "Are you _still_ sour about that? I told you it was an accident!"

-"An accident that could of easily costed us both our lives!"

-"Well it's too late to take it back now, isn't it! You should just be grateful I even bothered to take you with me when that overgrown lizard was hungry!"

-"All I'm saying is that there could be trouble around any corner and we need to be ready for it!"

-"I understand that Nox!"

-"Good."

-"Okay, so can we just drop it already? This goddamned headache is back." Nel stated, rubbing one temple.

Albel gave her a sideways glance. "Since when did you start cursing like that?"

Nel glared. "You're probably a bad influence on me. You're constantly spitting out fowl words."

Albel glared back. "I resent that."

-"Fine, but it's the truth."

Thoroughly annoyed with each other, Nel and Albel didn't talk for the next while. Eventually, the silence got under Nel's skin, forcing her to say something.

-"How long do you figure we've been in here?"

Albel didn't answer right away, and at first Nel didn't think he ever was going to, until :

-"I don't know. 3-4 days?"

It was an educated guess, and Nel knew he was probably right on the mark. "I hope all the others are doing alright."

Albel didn't respond to that, remaining silent.

'_Well, aren't we Mr.Talkative today.'_ Nel though rather sarcastically, before deciding to take another crack at opening him up. "Do you think they might of gotten out of this cave by now?"

Albel heaved an annoyed sigh. "Can't you take the hint that I don't want to talk to you?" he said, still avoiding her eyes.

Nel blew a stray piece of hair from her face and grinned. "No. And ouch Albel, that really hurt."

Albel just grumbled something under his breath and kept walking. Nel shrugged it off and continued on as well.

It was quiet for a long time. Almost too quiet. Albel thought for sure that when he indirectly told Nel to shut up she would of thrown a fit and started firing off questions faster then ever. But no, nothing. He felt like questioning her, but he knew better. If he got her started up again, there'd be no end to it.

Albel stayed quiet, thinking to himself, so it was easy to hear the gasp that Nel emitted right before dropping the Lightstone and plunging them both into darkness. Albel stopped walking and groaned. _'What now?'_

Something small lightly tapped against Albel's shoe. Bending down, he picked up the Lightstone that had rolled into his shoe, making it unleash bright rays, and turned to look at Nel.

-"What the hell was that all about?" he asked, annoyed. Nel wasn't looking at him though, and she didn't seem to of heard him either. "Zelpher-"

-"Albel," she cut him off.

Albel swallowed. Her tone of voice, it was so...unusual, almost soft. It didn't sound like her at all. "What?" She looked up then, and Albel got a look in her eyes. _'Sadness? What is it that's gotten her so upset all of a sudden?'_

-"Albel, I want to tell you I'm sorry. Sorry for everything." she said softly, taking a small step closer to him. "I haven't been totally honest with you lately, and I feel like I need to let it all out." She walked until she was close, a little too close, to Albel.

He almost took a step back, almost. _'Stand your ground! She's pulling another fast one on you, don't show any weakness!'_ "Is that so?" he chocked out, trying to sound stronger then he felt. "You want to fill me in, Zelpher?"

Nel did the unexpected then. Something Albel thought she'd never, ever do, even though he had imagined it in his head on numerous occasions in the last while...

She kissed him.

Albel's widened as he felt her gently press her soft lips against his own, his legs almost giving out from beneath him. _'This can't be happening...This cannot be happening!'_ he kept thinking over and over again. _'It's too good to be true...'_

It ended before he could react. Albel started down at Nel, who looked more than a little embarrassed. _'This isn't right...She would never just throw herself at you like that. And her voice is way off...'_ his mind reeled over the recent turn of events, but Albel wasn't listening. His limp fingers dropped the Lightstone as he reached over and pulled Nel close, crushing his lips against her own in a desperate search for truth.

Nel didn't react immediately. But after a second, Albel felt her small hands come up and wrap themselves around his neck, allowing her to lean into the passionate kiss.

Albel was lost in the sensation. He'd wanted this for what seemed like forever, and now he was experiencing what he thought was merely something of his imagination. All thoughts about Nel's strange behavior were swept away as he felt her pull him closer and continue to participate in the passionate lip lock.

'_I love her.'_ Albel thought abruptly, thinking the words that he'd been considering. _'I love Nel Zelpher.'_

His bliss, however, was cut short when he felt an incredible pain shoot up his back, making him gasp. Nel abruptly pulled away, and Albel became all too aware of what had happened.

In Nel's hand, she held her dagger. It dripped with his blood. She smirked at him.

Albel felt anger and sadness grab his heart and squeeze. _'She tricked me...'_ "You bitch...!" he spat, reaching for his sword, only to feel more pain from his back.

Nel simply smiled. "What's wrong Albel? Angry that the woman you love betrayed you?"

That's when everything clicked. How could he of not noticed the faint purple glow around her body, or the zoned out look in her eyes? Michael was controlling her.

Albel clenched his fists. "You bastard, let her go!"

Nel smirked. "So, you finally figured it out. Good for you, I'm actually surprised." She laughed, sounding more and more like Michael with every word he spoke through her lips.

-"I said let her go!" Albel barked again.

Nel's smirk widened. "Make me. Oh wait, you can't! Not when I'm controlling your lover!"

Albel felt a low growl rise from his chest. He clenched his fists, remembering something important that Nel had said before Michael had taken over her body.

_-"The Mind Control spell wears off over time, but it's extremely difficult to break the spell before it weakens naturally. I've had training, so I know how to counter the spell, but it still takes time and energy."_

Albel looked at Nel, who was now slowly wiping his blood off her dagger with a piece of her shredded shirt. _'I thought she'd really wanted to kiss me...I can't believe I fell for that.'_ Albel sighed and quickly picked up the Lightstone, blinding himself momentarily. _'And I kissed her back...When that spell wears off, she's probably going to be really mad at me...'_

He watched Nel closely. _'I need to think of a way to either break the spell or buy Nel some time so she can break it down herself,...but how?'_


	15. Inner Strength

**Chapter 15**

**Inner Strength**

The situation was defiantly leaning in Michael's favor. He had Nel under his control, making physical assault near impossible on Albel's account, and he was either hiding or had managed to conceal himself so Albel wouldn't be able to locate him.

Albel found himself biting his bottom lip so intensely that blood was now present in his mouth. _'What do I do...?'_ he wondered, his mind spinning over and exploring the possibilities. Nel's haunted voice brought him back out of his frantic thoughts.

-"So Nox, what's your move going to be?" Michael's voice was present as Nel spoke his words for him. "Are you going to stand there all day, or are you going to take some action?"

His voice taunted Albel. _'I need to find that blasted brat and stop the spell. It's taking too long for Nel to break it on her own...'_ Albel glanced at his surroundings, not moving his head, as it would draw more attention to his actions. Not that it mattered though, he was already in the spotlight.

-"You're taking too long." Albel's eyes widened slightly at the closeness of the voice behind him. "Guess I'll have to take matters into my own hands."

Albel went to turn around but couldn't manage it before cold metal slashed at his back, running a cut over his previous wound. Albel bit his lip in pain and swung around, catching Nel's violet eyes before she back-flipped out of the light Albel's Lightstone was giving off. Albel turned around and around, searching the surrounding darkness for any signs of life.

-"Come now Albel. You know it's impossible to stop me," Another slash at his arm caught Albel off guard, yet Nel was gone as quickly as she'd come. "You can't win." Another slash by the seemingly invisible beauty. "I've beaten you and you know it. Just give up and run."

-"Shut up! I run from no one!" Albel growled menacingly. "You have not won yet. I still have this."He held up the Lightstone.

A huff was heard from within the darkness. "That's it? A Lightstone?" More laughter. "You actually expect to defeat me with that _rock_?"

Albel slowly edged his way over to the cave wall, getting close enough so that the light was shining brightly against the wall. And there it was. The shadow of a boy.

How is it possible to have a shadow of a figure that is not there in the flesh?

It's not.

Albel's clawed hand shot out and grabbed his invisible foe around the neck before he could move. "I've got you now you little maggot! Drop the concealment spell!" Albel growled menacingly.

The next second, Michael was there, his neck held firmly in Albel's claw. He didn't look fazed at all, however.

-"You _are_ a feisty one." he said, having Nel, who was still hiding, speak along with him.

Albel just grimaced. "Now that I've got you, you're going to release the spell on Nel." he said forcefully, tightening his grip on Michael's neck.

Yet, Michael still looked somewhat amused. "I don't think so."

Albel growled. "Do what I say or I'll slit your throat and let you bleed to death!"

Michael just smiled smugly. "Again, I don't think so."

-"Why the hell not!" Albel nearly yelled.

Michael continued to smile. "Because if you kill me, _I kill her_."

Albel felt his blood run cold. Turning his head to see Nel's slim figure enter the circle of light, he saw that Michael was speaking the truth. To her chest, Nel held one of her daggers with both hands. Albel's heart wrenched as she smirked. "You kill me, I kill her." she spoke Michael's words once more.

Albel gazed down at the pebbly cave floor. _'What do I do now?...If I hurt Michael, he'll make Nel...'_ He could feel his heart beating in his temples. _'I can't just run away and leave Nel either...I'd rather die then live without her now...'_

-"Run..."

Albel's eyes shot open and he looked up at Nel.

-"Please...r-run..." Her voice was quaking and a single tear was running down her cheek. But what Albel noticed before anything else, was that Michael hadn't spoken when she had, which meant...

-"Nel...?" he spoke softly.

Her hands were shaking heavily. "A-Albel,...run away...p-please..." she spoke again, her voice forced as she fought over control with Michael, who looked very uncomfortable when Albel glanced at him.

-"Nel...I-...I'm not running." Albel said, watching her intently. Something like a frown spread over her lips, showing that she didn't approve his decision. It disappeared quickly however, when a look of pain crossed her delicate features.

-"You truly are foolish Albel." Michael's voice was echoing hers once more, and Albel knew that she'd lost the little bit of control that she'd just had.

Before Albel could move, the boy he was holding by the neck vanished, physically. His claw clamped shut under the pressure, and Albel jerked his head down, noticing the loss of the upper hand on Michael.

Albel looked around frantically, searching for the boy. He didn't have a chance to locate him before he became aware that Nel was coming at him again. Albel swore under his breath as Nel swiped a dagger at him, narrowly missing. Tears were slowing running down her cheeks. She struck again, landing a deep gash in Albel's stomach. He bit his lip hard to keep himself from crying out.

Careful as to dodge her attacks, Albel scanned the area for Michael. He spotted him, standing not too far off against the wall, watching the show.

Drawing his sword, Albel locked on to his target and threw his katana. It cut through the air with deadly grace, going right for Michael. It flew right by his head and stuck into the rock wall behind him, swaying slightly from the impact beside his face. Michael stood frozen with shock. No more then a second later, Albel was at the youth's side. With a swift blow to the head, Michael was out cold.

Time stood still for that moment. Michael fell to the ground like a ton of bricks, Albel followed soon after out of exhaustion.

'_I did it.'_ Albel thought and leaned himself up against the rough cave wall. _'I got the little bastard.'_ He sighed and looked down at his beat up body. Some of his wounds had opened up again and the newer ones were still bleeding. _'I need a vacation...'_

-"A-Albel?"

Said person looked up abruptly as her voice rang through the cave. Michael's voice no longer inhabited hers and the glow was gone from her slim figure.

Albel couldn't help but smile. _'She's okay...Thank the Gods...'_

Nel hurried over to Albel's limp form and kneeled down in front of him. "Albel, talk to me! I didn't hurt you, did I!" Her voice was frantic and worried, her eyes reflecting fear for his well-being.

Albel let out a hollow chuckle. _'How ironic.'_ "Woman, you've hurt me in more ways then imaginable."

Nel frowned and put her hand to his forehead. "But seriously, are you going to be alright?"

A weak memory of him kissing her passionately flashed through his mind. Sighing, Albel dully nodded his head. "I'll be fine."

Nel nodded slowly, and then abruptly slapped him hard across the face. Albel was in shock, and pain. He slowly brought his hand to his stinging cheek. Before any questions could be asked, Nel roughly grabbed a handful of Albel's torn shirt and pulled him up so she could look him in the eyes.

-"How could you do that! Are you _crazy_? What were you thinking!" she yelled at him, more tears starting to slide down her face.

Albel was completely taken off guard. _'What is she...?'_ Then realization hit him, almost as hard as Nel had. _'She's mad about that kiss...I knew she would be, so why does it have to hurt so goddamned much?'_ "Nel, I didn't mean to...-"

-"Stupid! Of course you meant to! I told you to run away and you purposely did exactly the opposite! Why didn't you listen! I could've killed you!" Her voice cracked as she cried, griping his shirt tighter.

'_What?'_ Albel portrayed confusion in his eyes. _'She's not mad about me kissing her when she was...-'_

-"Answer me! Why didn't you run!" Nel yelled once more before releasing him and collapsing to his chest in a heap, sobs filling her lungs.

Albel didn't react right away, he was still not comprehending what was going on. Slowly, he looked down at Nel's crying figure and something in his head snapped.

Taking her by the shoulders, Albel helped Nel up so he could see her face. She looked at him, the tears never ceasing. "I didn't run, because I couldn't leave without you." _(A/N: God that's corny...XD)_

Nel was quite still for a second before a small smile played on her lips. "I'm glad you stayed." she found herself whispering to him. Albel smiled lightly.

-"So am I."

He pulled her in and they hugged long and hard. "But you really should learn to listen to me more." Nel added in a hush as she held him close. Albel chuckled.

They separated after a minute and looked over at Michael's motionless form.

-"We can probably rest for a few minutes before looking for the exit. I don't think he's going to be up for a while." Albel said softly.

Nel chuckled lightly. "Did you really hit him that hard?"

Albel listened to her laugh softly and felt his heart warm. "You can't blame me, I was very upset at the time."

Nel was silent for a minute before popping the question.

-"Hey Albel? I've got to ask you something..."

Albel felt a cold shiver run up his spine. _'Here it comes...'_

_

* * *

_  
** Ah! I'm sorry it took me sooooo long to update! I had some major problems writing this chapter, but I told them off and finished it just a few minutes ago! Phew :P. Anyways, I know I left you guys at a bit of a cliffhanger (okay, it was a major one) and I'm very sorry to say that this chapter also ends rather suddenly. (I can see you guys waving your fists at me!)**

**Sorry again! 3 you guys!**

**MelanieStar**

**P.S. If any of you have read the book The Outsiders and absolutely love the character Dally as much as I do, I wrote a character development on him for my 8th grade English class and got a PREFECT GRADE! (Only kid of 60 to do that! XD) If you'd like to read it and give me a review on what you think, I'd really appreciate it :P I'll be posting it soon. Thanks again!**


	16. So Close, Yet So Far

**Chapter 16**

**So Close, Yet So Far**

"I've got to ask you something..."

The very words that Albel had been dreading had just exited Nel's pink lips, and he didn't know if he would ever be prepared enough to give her the answer to her obvious question.

Nel was sitting down in front of him, looking down at her fists in her lap.

-"Back there, while Michael had me under his control, he made me..." Her confidence left her as quickly as it had come. "He made me kiss you..." her voice cracked as she chocked up. She shifted her eyes to glance at Albel, but quickly looked away when she saw that he was watching her. Nel gulped. "Why did you kiss me back?"

There it was, out in the open, the cause of all of Albel's stress. How was he ever supposed to talk his way out of this one? Would she get upset if he told the truth? Probably.

Albel sighed. 'Oh well, here we go anyway.'

-"I kissed you because I thought that when you kissed me...I thought it meant something." He took a deep breath. "I didn't realize that Michael was controlling you at the time."

He'd said it. The ball was in Nel's court now.

Nel was silent, soaking in the meaning of Albel's statement. "You thought that I had...?" Albel nodded. "So you returned the...?" He nodded again.

More silence. "...Oh."

And that was it. As anti-climactic as it sounds, nothing else happened for quite a few minutes after that. Her answer had hurt Albel, but he didn't let it show. At least it wasn't a total rejection like he'd anticipated...There was still hope, right?

Albel was first to break the silence. "We'd better get moving. Are you okay to walk?"

Nel stood up shakily and nodded. "Yes, I'm fine." she muttered quietly. Albel got to his feet as well, supporting himself with a hand on the cave wall. It seemed like when he hadn't been looking. Nel had sliced up his legs while being controlled.

Nel watched as Albel struggled to keep his balance. "Maybe I should try to heal some of those wounds. It looked like I cut you up pretty good." she said quietly, taking a step towards Albel.

He looked up at her and saw the concerned look in her eyes. "No, save your energy. We're not out of here yet." Nel looked ready to protest, but Albel raised his hand. "Don't. I'll get healed when we're out."

She looked reluctant, but finally gave in. "Fine, I'll carry Michael."

Kneeling down, she got Michael's arms around her neck and hooked hers behind his knees, slowly picking him up in a piggy back position. His head came to rest at the base of Nel's neck as she leaned forward slightly so he wouldn't fall off backwards.

Seeming to of just remembered something important, Albel limped over to Nel and her passenger. He swiftly pulled the blue documents out of Michael's back pocket and handed them to Nel.

-"Hold on to these." he said simply, and she nodded, putting them carefully into a hidden pocket at her waist.

-"Let's go."

**X**

The walk was long and tedious. Michael seemed to be getting heavier and heavier with every minute that passed in Nel's opinion, and Albel was continuing to struggle along with all the wounds that Nel had previously gifted him with. The whole ordeal was a pain, but they had no other options at the time. Get to the outside world, that was their mission.

They were forced to take a break when Albel none-to-gracefully tripped on a piece of dirt and slightly sprained his ankle. It was quite the spectacle, but Nel couldn't laugh about it. Albel was so beat up and tiered, she wondered if he would even survive long enough to get to the exit.

Nel carefully set Michael down on the ground, leaning him against the wall. She then gently helped Albel sit in the same manner, lifting him up from his face-plant position. He gave her what looked like a sad excuse of a grateful smile before wincing in pain when she touched a wound on his arm by accident.

-"Sorry." Nel said softly. She lightly felt Albel's forehead and grimaced. "You're burning up." she stated, judging the terrible heat of his skin. "How do you feel?"

Albel sighed and closed his eyes as Nel drew her hand back. "I feel terrible. Honestly Nel, that was a pointless question. Do I look okay to you?"

Nel smiled slightly. "At least you're acting normal."

She looked at the expression on his face for another minute before making up her mind. "I'm going to heal some of these wounds, and try to reduce the pain the others are giving off."

Albel opened his eyes and looked at her. "No, you're not. Save your energy, I'll be fine once we get out of here." he said firmly, sounding determined.

Nel sighed heavily. "Don't make this difficult Albel. I've got energy saved up from the last couple days where I didn't use any runology, and I intend on healing you whether you like it or not."

-"I don't need it. When we get to the-"

-"We don't even know how far away the exit is! And in your condition, I'm scared that you won't make it that far."

Albel looked Nel in the eyes for a few seconds before averting his gaze. "I don't want you wasting all your energy on me and then ending up in my position." he said softly, choosing his words carefully.

Nel watched as he looked at everything but her, trying not to let her see the emotion in his eyes. But she'd already seen it.

Slowly, Nel reached out and took his rough and calloused hand in hers, making him finally look at her in the eye. "I won't be wasting my energy by using it to heal you, and I'll make sure to save enough for myself." she spoke softly, watching Albel's red eyes. "I want to help you. You've got to learn to let people in once and a while."

They just sat there, holding each others hand, and staring at one another. After a minute or so, Nel was pleased to see Albel give her a small smile, followed by a short nod of his head. Understanding that he had just given her permission, Nel released his hand and started up a small healing spell in her palm.

Once it glowed brightly, Nel got to work. She took care of the sprained ankle first, followed by the cut on the side of Albel's face that had never stopped bleeding for all this time. She then ran her hands up and down his arm and legs swiftly, healing any of the painful looking wounds. Albel watched Nel work magic on his aching body, becoming more and more grateful with every wound she healed.

Finally, Nel focused on the gruesome looking hold in Albel's stomach. Guilt rushed through her when remembrance hit. _'I did this too.'_ Nel took extra care in the spell she cast on his stomach, making sure to completely heal the shredded skin os it wouldn't scar.

When she was done, she ran her fingertips over his stomach once more, to make sure she hadn't missed a spot due to the poor lighting. Albel turned pink in the face and quickly grabbed her hand, making her stop.

Nel looked at him. "What's wrong?"

Albel looked back at her. _'That tickled, but I could never tell you that...'_ "Nothing. Are you done?"

He released her hand and they both stood up. "Yes. That should keep you alive until we can get you some real medical attention. Just be carful on that ankle."

Albel nodded and watched as Nel kneeled down to pick Michael up again. Nel had one arm around Michael's back when she felt a hand on her shoulder. "Thank you...I can take Michael for a while."

Albel kneeled down beside her, hand still on her shoulder. Nel studied him for a few seconds before saying anything. "Okay, but I won't let you carry him for too long. You're got to give your ankle a rest."

Albel smiled lightly. "Sure thing Nel." He picked Michael up, piggy back style, and stood beside Nel. "Let's go."

They walked sown the corridors of rock in silence. It was getting really dull, really fast. They were walking down a little path that was barley big enough for the both of them to walk side by side. There hadn't been any forks in the path recently, meaning they were nearing the exit, or that it was leading them further and further into the cave,

Albel and Nel were both hoping for the first guess. The tunnel curved this way and that, turning some corners so sharply that Nel had to peek around the corner to see if any dragons were coming before they continued on. More and more pebbly floor went by underneath their feet as each long minute passed by.

Another corner was coming up, so Nel automatically moved into position. Albel came up behind her, Michael secure on his back, as Nel pressed her back against the wall and glanced around the corner. A split second later, Albel heard her swear as she pulled her head back from around that corner and tensed up, eyes already shut tight.

Albel looked her over uneasily. "What is it?" From the looks of Nel, something terrible was around that corner. She didn't answer, or move, so Albel moved in front of her to look for himself.

Before he stuck his head out into the open, Nel's hand shot out and pulled his shoulder back. "Carful! It'll see you!" she whispered frantically, fear present in her violet eyes.

She let him go and Albel slowly eased forward, more cautious now. _'If something's got her this spooked, it must be bad.'_ He had just looked around the corner when he easily saw what was worrying her. He swore heavily, much like Nel had, and pulled away quickly, as not to be noticed.

The mother of all things with scales and wings was just around that corner. There was a huge chamber of rock, wide like a football field with tall rock walls that lead up to open skies...

...And then there was the humongous dragon sitting right in the middle of it.

It had a large torso with wings that could probably reach from one side of the chamber to the other. It's claws were long and sharpened, gleaming in the light the moon provided through the open ceiling of the chamber. A giant piece of dead meat, probably another dragon, was keeping it busy for the moment, but Albel feared that it wouldn't be long before the monster found them.

His wide eyes turned to Nel's. "That's one bitch of a dragon." he whispered harshly.

Nel nodded and looked away. She pulled her rough hands over her face and slid down the wall to plop down on the ground. Her hands came down to rest together under her chin, supporting her head. "What now? There's no way we could beat that thing. Not in our conditions, it'd kill us as soon as we came around that corner...' she whispered.

Albel kneeled over and placed Michael on the ground so he could sit beside Nel.

-"We've come so far, just to be stopped by a dragon! If we go back the way we came, it'd take more then a few days to get back to the entrance! And that's only if we could get over that giant pit and around that caved in passage, which is near impossible on it's own."

She sounded as if she was close to tears, and Albel hurt to see her like this.

Nel blinked back tears. _'Tears aren't going to fix this! I just wish I knew what to do...'_ She felt an arm circle her back and saw the metal arm pass over he stomach, wrapping her in a weak hug. Albel's head came to rest on her shoulder, his hair tickling her bare skin.

Pink traced her features as warm breath passed over her neck. "Don't worry. Everything's going to turn out in the end, this is just another milestone on our way out of here."

Nel felt the warmth of his words wash over her soul. She slowly lowered her head until it softly rested on his. "I hope you're right." she spoke quietly, feeling the tears dry up as she melted into his embrace.

They stayed like that for quite a while, knowing that this may be their last few moments together before their destinies would take over and force them to make another life threatening decision.


	17. We'll Fight 'Till The End

**Chapter 17**

**We'll Fight 'Till The End**

It was so pleasant being in Albel's arms, Nel lost all consciousness of what was going on around her. She nuzzled into his neck, his breath tickling her forehead. _'I should tell him.'_ she thought abruptly, letting her eyes droop shut. _'We might not, - scratch that-, probably won't live through this, and he deserves to know how I feel about him.'_

She sighed and Albel tightened his hold on her, making her breath catch. Nel opened her eyes slowly, glancing at the ever unconscious Michael. _'I know I should tell him, so why am I so scared?'_

A small voice, long since forgotten from when she was just a little girl, spoke up then, telling her what she already knew._ 'Rejection. You're scared he's not going to feel the same way.'_

Nel subconsciously shook her head._ 'I can do this. It's only three words, what's so hard about it?'_

'_It may only be three words, but they mean the world to you.'_

Nel thought about that, scared by how true the statement really was.

Before she could speak, however, she noticed that an unmistakable presence was now too close for comfort. Nel forced her eyes open and pulled one hand away from the embrace, shouting the release on a powerful protection spell, allowing it to escape her hand and circle her and Albel.

Albel looked up just in time to see the dragon, which had apparently stuck it's long neck around the corner while he and Nel had been distracted, open it's oversized jaw and release an enormous amount of fire, seconds after Nel's barrier locked into place.

Nel winced as the red hot flames flowed over her spell, trying to break it down and fry them both alive. Albel released his hold around Nel's waist and took her hand, lending her some of his energy to help keep the barrier in tact. Her eyes were shut tight in pain as Nel struggled to keep the spell going, feeling the vicious heat start to seep through their only defense.

The worst of it passed, and Nel felt the attack start to cease. She let go of Albel's hand, which she had been unknowingly clutching, and looked him in the eyes.

-"As soon as I drop the spell, we need to run towards the head and get around that corner. If we can get the dragon away from Michael and defeat it in that chamber, we can make it out."

Albel glanced at the dragon before looking back at the woman that he had learned to love so very much. "You do realize that the chances of us surviving this are close to none, right?"

She gave him a sad smile. "Yes, but I'm not going down without a fight."

Albel nodded slowly. "Same here." Then, realizing that this might be his last chance, ever, to tell Nel the one thing that truly mattered, he quickly opened his mouth once more, swallowing what little pride he had left. "Nel, there's something I really need to tell-"

Many things happened just then, cutting Albel off before he could finish. The flames ceased, the spell dissolved, and Nel grabbed his hand, pulling him to his feet and forcing him to run at the enemy. They ran full speed past the dragon's head, barely missing the teeth as they snapped at them, and ran around the corner, parallel the dragon's long scaley neck.

They stopped running soon after. Nel turned and looked at the dragon, noticing that her plan hadn't completely followed through. "It's not following us! It must be going after Michael!" she exclaimed, letting go of Albel's hand and pulling out her daggers.

Albel caught her train of thought and drew his katana, following her as she charged at the dragon's unprotected stomach.

It took a few good slashes to the beast's side before it noticed the wounds that were being inflicted. Nel and Albel backed up slightly as the dragon pulled it's head back around the corner. It looked at them with it's red eyes, watching as Nel and Albel shuffled around, trying to keep their distance.

Nel edged closer to Albel, daggers ready if there happened to be a surprise attack. "How do you suggest we go about this?" she spoke quickly, keeping her eyes on the enemy.

-"Hit it's head with everything we've got, then go from there." Albel replied, also watching the dragon.

Nel gave a swift nod and started to part ways.

-"Nel," she stopped and chanced a quick glance at Albel. "Do me a favor. Don't die, okay?" She heard the sarcasm in his voice, as well as the genuine concern.

She smiled and continued to edge away from him. "Same goes for you. Be careful." She paused briefly. "I've got your back."

Albel glanced at her and caught her eyes. "And I've got yours. Let's do this."

And with that, the battle begun.

Albel lunged forward, his claw glowing a deathly color at his side. "Palm of Destruction!" He released the orb of light, running behind it as it came into contact with the dragon's right eye, earning a howl of pain. He swiftly followed with a slash of his katana over the beast's face.

Landing from the aerial assault, he took caution to dodge the dragon's sharp claws as it blindly swiped at him.

Nel came in soon after, releasing a heavy dose of Ice Daggers, freezing the swiping claw. Albel saw his opportunity and went in to take out the frozen arm. Before he could chop it off however, the dragon countered by swinging it's ice covered limb at him. Albel was caught off guard and sent flying across the chamber, hitting the wall with a sickening crack and crashing to the ground.

Nel froze when she saw him hit the ground. Albel slowly tried to get up, but it became apparent that he was having some difficulty. The dragon must of noticed this as well, as it moved in to attack again. Nel quickly ran over, getting herself between the monster and Albel, and started to prepare her Flying Guillotine attack.

She released it once the beast was closer, feeling the nausea return as more of her precious energy left her. The dragon took the attack head on, growling in pain as the blades came into contact with it's face.

Nel took this opportunity to stagger back to Albel, who looked rather helpless. "What's wrong?" she asked hurriedly as her legs gave out, making her collapse beside him.

Albel gave her an anguished look. "I broke my leg."

Nel looked at his leg, her stomach flipping when she saw the bone poking out of skin. "Hold on, I can fix it..." she muttered, looking away and forming a healing spell.

-"Nel don't-"

-"Shut up. We have to get through this together! I'm sick of you putting up a fight every time I try to help you! I've got your back, remember?" She gently touched his open flesh, watching the bone retreat back into his leg.

Albel watched her sway when the spell finished. "You can't keep doing this, you'll wear yourself out before we get out of here." he stated, reaching out and steadying her.

-"I'm okay." Nel said quickly and shrugged him off. "Just concentrate on the battle, I'll be fine."

Albel watched her stand, drawing both daggers, and sway slightly. "You can barely stand, stupid. How do you expect to fight?" he said, quickly standing up and grabbing her arm before she got away. Nel tried to shrug him off again, but he refused to let go.

-"Let me go. The dragon's going to-"

-"Stop it Nel." His voice was demanding, making her stop struggling almost instantly. "Look at me." She did so. "You're pushing yourself way too hard. Are you asking for problems? Or injuries?" Nel glanced at the dragon, who was still in a corner fussing over the wounds to it's face. Albel looked at her and loosened his hold on her arm. "I told you not to get yourself killed." Nel looked back up at him, and was severely shocked by the concerned and loving look she was receiving. " I know you're not going to like this, but I want you to stay here. I'll take care of the-"

-"No. Not a chance." Nel cut him off sharply and yanked her arm out of his hand. "I'm _not_ a helpless female! You are _not_ going into this alone!"

Albel frowned. "I never said that you were helpless, it's just that-..."

-"how the hell an I supposed to have your back if I'm not even fighting! I'm helping, deal with it." she cut him off again, intent on making a point.

Albel looked defeated. _'No one's ever disobeyed me before.'_ He sighed. "Fine, but I'm serious about keeping yourself alive. If something happens to you, I...I don't know what I'd do."

Nel looked at him, even as he avoided her eyes. _'I love you so much.'_ she thought and smiled. Reaching over, she gently wrapped her arms around his middle in an embrace. Albel went stiff briefly, but loosened up quickly and pulled her closer, returning her embrace more willingly.

-"Thanks Albel." she whispered, beyond glad that he hadn't pushed her away.


	18. I Thought You Were Dead

**Chapter18**

**I Thought You Were Dead**

The dragon finally got over it's facial problems and came back over to the side of the cave that Albel and Nel were on, looking to pick a fight. Nel sensed it coming and reluctantly pulled away from their embrace. Albel saw it coming as well, and bent over to pick up his katana.

-"I'm going in." he said simply and charged, passing Nel by, sword ready beside him. Nel retrieved her daggers and ran around to the dragon's side, delivering a few small wounds to it's side while Albel emptied his whole arsenal on it's face.

This battle could of easily gone either way. Too bad for the stars of this story that it didn't turn in their favor.

**X**

Nel watched in horror as the dragon used one of it's most powerful attacks, hitting Albel dead on in the chest and sending him flying through the air. His mouth was open wide, but he was beyond screaming as blood spilled out of his mouth. He hit the ground in a heap and rolled a few time, stopping on his stomach, his sword landing beside him with a clang and rolling away.

Nel looked at him, tears trying to escape her eyes. _'He's not moving.'_ Her stomach lurched violently, almost making her throw up.

She turned and looked at the dragon, ready to go into a full out rage, but noticed that she was too late. A bright red light blinded her, and then the incredible pain came. Her blood spilled onto the ground as she flew, following the path Albel had only moments before.

She landed, undoubtably breaking something, and closed her eyes tight, the pain unbearable. _'I'm going to die...I'm going to die...I-'m going to d-die...'_ Her mind kept repeating it over and over again as tears started flowing freely from her eyes.

Nel opened her eyes, and saw him. Albel. She had landed beside him, and they were facing each other. His eyes were shut. It looked as though he was merely sleeping, but Nel knew better. Slowly, painfully, she reached out and managed to just reach Albel's hand, holding it weakly.

-"It's just like you said...we both get out of here, or neither of us do..."

More tears escaped, mingling with her blood and dirt stained cheeks. Her eyes suddenly got heavy, threatening to take away her vision of him. "Albel..." Her eyes eased shut and consciousness nearly left her. "I love you, Albel..."

She glanced up slightly to see the dragon coming towards them. She sighed. _'At least we'll go together.'_

Consciousness left her then, so she was unable to see the boy that ran between her and the dragon, his entire body engulfed in deadly red flames...

**X**

'_...What happened?'_

Silence.

'_Am...am I dead?...'_

Nel slowly opened her eyes, severely confused. She seemed to be in her room back in Aquios, but...how was that possible? She tried to get up, but failed miserably as pain coursed through her body. _'How did I get here?...The last thing I remember was...!'_

-"Albel!" She shot up, the covers falling away from her body, revealing a plain white nightgown. Nel instantly cried out in pain and fell down, her head bouncing once on the pillow. She stared up at the ceiling blankly. _'I'm so confused...Where did Albel go?'_

She nearly jumped when her bedroom door flew open and someone stumbled in. She looked up, careful not to move much, and saw who it was. Albel, clad in only a pair of white bottoms and a whole lot of bandages, stumbled over to her bed, nearly falling numerous times.

-"Nel! What's wrong? I heard you scream-"

He couldn't say much, as two doctors rushed in.

-"Sir Albel! What did we tell you about walking around with your injuries? Come with us back to your room and-"

-"Rest? Not likely. I've been doing that for the last three days! Now beat it, I'm staying here."

-"Sir Albel, I don't think it wise to-"

-"Do I honestly look like I care what you think, maggot?"

-"Stop it." Her voice silenced all three of them, who turned to look at Nel. "I'd like to speak with Albel, so could the two of you please leave."

Albel turned and gave the two doctors a triumphant smirk.

-"But Lady Nel, he-"

-"I'm aware of his injuries, he'll be fine in here with me, don't worry."

The doctors looked at one another, still reluctant, but did what they were told, and left.

Albel pulled the chair away from Nel's desk and sat down beside Nel's bed. "How are you feeling?" he asked, looked her over. Nel carefully propped herself up against the backboard of her bed.

-"I'm okay, I guess. Everything hurts and I have no idea how I got here, or what happened..." She looked at Albel, and for the first time since she'd woken up, felt the extreme relief that they had both survived, and that she was able to see him again. "How's your wounds? Your stomach took a bad one from that dragon."

Albel gently touched the bandages that were covering his middle. "That attack had burned most of the skin off my stomach, but those doctors say that it'll fully heal." He paused and looked her straight in the eye. "I thought for sure we were goners..."

Nel didn't break their stare. "Do you know what happened to us?"

Albel shook his head. "No. They wanted to tell me, but I figured I'd wait until you'd woken up."

Nel smiled. "Thank you...Wait. Who's _they_?"

-"Fayt's little group. Apparently they saw that whole thing after we blacked out.

-"Oh."

They sat in silence for a few minutes, relaxing for the first time in a long time. Albel seemed to be deep in thought for a while, his eyes looking at everything but Nel. Finally, he spoke.

-"Nel, there's something I need to ask you about...And I want you to be honest with me." His tone was so serious that Nel found herself growing nervous.

-"Yes?"

-"Back in the cave, when the dragon attacked you and you landed beside me...what you said, did...did you really mean it?" He was still avoiding her eyes, but she could hear the nervousness in his voice.

'_He was awake!'_ her mind screamed, now in a full out panic. _'He was conscious when I said that I love him!'_

She opened her mouth to try and get herself out of this one, but was interrupted as her bedroom door flew open for the seconds time this morning.

-"Nel! You're awake!"

Before Nel had any idea what was going on, she was being crushed by someone, still very much in pain from her wounds. "Stop...h-hurts..." she managed to squeak, just loud enough for Albel to hear. He stood up and pulled whoever was hugging her roughly by the shoulders, pulling them off Nel.

-"Stupid Ape! She's still weak, back off!"

Said person, more commonly known as Cliff, smiled and scratched the back of his head. "Jeez, sorry Nel. I forgot."

-"It's okay Cliff." Nel said, smiling, but crying in pain on the inside.

The door caught her attention again, as Fayt, Maria, Sophia and Mirage walked in, smiling at her. "Glad to see you're awake Nel." Fayt said and promptly sat down in Albel's chair.

-"We came to see you as soon as those doctors down the hall told us you were up." Sophia added, giggling at the look on Albel's face, having discovered that his chair had been taken.

-"Are you still in pain?" Maria asked, seeing right through Nel's smile.

-"A little." Maria looked at her critically. "Oh okay, a lot."

Nel looked at all her friend's smiling faces. "I'm so glad you guys are all okay."

-"We're fine, you two are the one's that did all the work." Mirage said.

-"Enough of the pleasantries. Just tell us what happened already." Albel said, sitting down beside Nel on her bed with one leg stretched out over the sheets, and the other hanging off the bed. He leaned against the backboard and waited. "Well, c'mon then."

Fayt and the others noticed the unusual closeness between Albel and Nel, but didn't say anything, preferring to keep their heads connected to their bodies.

Fayt sighed. "Well, when you two blacked out, we all just so happened to be walking by. We ran in, ready to protect you, but someone beat us to it."

Maria took over. "We came in to see Michael put himself between you two and the dragon. I've never seen such powerful runology as the attacks he gave off. I hate to say it, but I was scared that he'd turn on us next."

-"He completely destroyed that dragon," Fayt said, shaking his head. "there was nothing left of it when he was done. He collapsed from exhaustion before we could get to him, and he hasn't woken up yet. We managed to carry you all to the exit where Clair was waiting, and got you here as fast as possible."

Nel sat there, along with Albel, dumbstruck. _'Michael saved us...?'_

-"So you're telling me," Albel spoke. "that the little brat saved us by taking down that monster all by himself?"

Mirage nodded. "That's what we saw."

Nel and Albel looked at each other, mouths slightly open. "He's defiantly got some explaining to do." Albel spoke quietly.

Nel just nodded.


	19. Unknown Origin

**Chapter 19**

**Unknown Origin**

It took a few long days in bed before Nel was able enough to get up. Albel stayed with her through all the hours, to the point that he would fall asleep on his chair or on top of her bed. Nel didn't mind though, she knew he still wasn't completely healed, and she liked the company.

Once she was able to get up and walk around without too much trouble, getting Albel to help her at times, she went with him down the hall to see Michael.

When they entered his room, they found him laying on his bed, slowly bending the handle of a spoon back and forth by staring at it. He looked up when Albel closed the door behind them and helped Nel over to a chair. Albel sat down on another chair once Nel was sitting, and looked at Michael. The three of them stared at each other for a minute, not sure what to say now that the opportunity was there.

Nel cleared her throat, catching their attention. "Thank you for saving us back there." she said quietly, making eye contact with Michael. Albel muttered thanks as well.

Michael looked down at his twisted spoon. "I'm really sorry for trying to hurt you all those times, I wasn't thinking straight." He looked sad when he glanced back at them, and Nel knew he truly was sorry.

-"It's alright, it's in the past now. We know why you did it too, I can't blame you for trying to help the people you love."

Michael smiled.

-"How's your mother?" Albel asked quietly.

Michael looked at him and smiled again. "The runologists here found a cure for her disease, and she's supposed to make a full recovery withing the next couple months."

Nel smiled at the joy in his voice. "That's wonderful Michael! Your sisters must be so happy."

-"Probably. I still haven't gone home to see any of them, I'm still recovering."

Another silence fell over them briefly.

-"Michael," Said person looked at Nel. "I need to know how you were capable of those complicated and powerful spells in the cave. I know that blueprints gave away the secrets to unlocking some of them, but you still had some major power to use, more then most adults do." Michael looked thoughtful. "Be honest."

-"I don't know where I get all my power from, honestly. I remember one day, when I was eight, I woke up in the morning, and I felt different. It was like this powerful boost of energy had entered my body overnight. I was able to do lots of complicated spells quickly, my..." he paused, looking down. "My father used to help me train, so that when I became of age, I'd be able to join the Aquarian army, like he had."

Michael paused, reminiscing. "After he died in the war, my mother fell ill, and we started having trouble finding food to eat, or staying warm at night. I decided to continue training, harder then before, going for the chance that I could join the army and help support our family."

Nel glanced at Albel. This child was going through so many hardships, it reminded her of a littler Albel, hardened by having to grow up too fast.

-"It didn't go as I had planned. I was deemed _too young_ to join the army, even though I have skills that surpass those of most grown adults, and we have not had another war, so Aquios isn't in need of more soldiers."

-"That's why you stole those documents then, you'd gotten desperate." Albel said, seeming to understand exactly what Michael had gone through.

Michael looked up. "Yeah. I didn't mean to hurt any of you. It's just that sometimes,...sometimes the power I possess takes control, and I lose sight of what I want in the sensation using that power gives me."

-"It'll get better as you get older and gain more control. I was like you when I was younger, but you are a lot stronger then I was at your age." Nel said, regarding him with respect.

Michael smiled faintly. "I'm just glad it's over. I didn't show it all that much, but I was terrified the whole time I was in that cave."

Nel nodded in understanding. "I was too..." She glanced at Albel and he motioned to the door. "We'd better go so you can get some rest." She got up, thankful when Albel moved to help her stand, and they started for the door.

-"I hope you both recover soon." Michael spoke quickly before the bedroom door closed behind Albel.

-"Same goes for you, kid. Get some rest." Albel spoke and closed the door.

He helped Nel back to her room and into her bed before sitting down on the chair at her bedside.

-"Thank you." Nel said softly, pulling up her covers.

-"No problem. Just get some rest, you're still not completely healed." Albel said, crossing his arms and relaxing into the chair.

Nel rolled her eyes. "Okay Mom."

Albel gave her a hard look. "Would you rather I not say anything at all?"

Nel shrugged. "At times." She chuckled at the look Albel shot her way. "I'm kidding, calm down. I'm just glad you care."

-"Who ever said I care?" Albel said defensively, looking away.

-"No one did, but it's implied all the time."

Albel looked at her sharply. "Is it really _that_ obvious?" he asked, but turned away upon realizing what he'd said.

Nel smiled. "Let's just drop it, okay? We're both tiered."

Albel nodded silently and turned away. Nel smiled softly and laid her head down on her pillow, dropping off to sleep within minutes.

Once he was certain that she was asleep, Albel turned his head back and looked at Nel's peaceful expression, smiling lightly to himself before closing his eyes and leaning back in the chair.

'_Goodnight Nel...'_

_

* * *

_  
**Hi everyone! Thanks so much for all the reviews! I havn't told you lately, but I really appreciate all of them! This story is soon to end, I'm thinking another two or three chapters...:) That's all I've got to say for now, c ya! 3**

**MelanieStar**


	20. The End

**Chapter 20**

**The End**

"...You're leaving?"

Albel avoided her gaze, staring at the castle doors behind her instead. "Wh-...why?" Nel choked out, her heart aching.

Albel finally looked at her, feeling terrible upon seeing how his words had affected her. "The King has requested my presence for another mission back in Airyglyph. I have to go, it's not optional." He spoke slowly and clearly, the message hurting him as much as Nel.

She looked at him for a few long moments. "Well, I could come with you, to help."

Albel liked - no, loved - the idea, but he knew it was wishful thinking, nothing more. "No Nel, you need to stay here. Aquios still needs you."

Nel slowly shook her head, refusing to give in to the inevitable. "I won't let you leave. If you do, things will go back to like before, when we _hated_ one another." She reached out to take his hand, but he backed away, just out of her reach.

-"Don't." He spoke gently. "If you do, I might never be able to do what's right."

Nel felt tears come to her eyes as Albel turned away from her and started walking towards the Aquios gates.

'_No.'_ she thought, a tear escaping her eyes. _'It can't end like this.'_ She stumbled forward. "Albel, wait!"

He stopped walking and looked over his shoulder at her. "Please, don't cry." he said, and managed a small smile. "I'll come back to visit, promise." He turned again and continued walking further and further away from his very purpose in life.

More tears escaped Nel's eyes. _'Come back Albel. You can't just walk away when you're confused. I am, but I never gave up on us...'_

Albel didn't look back as he walked, clenching his fists tightly. _'It's for the best,'_ he told himself. _'everyone who's ever gotten close to me has been hurt or sacrificed. I won't let that fate befall Nel. I couldn't save my father, and I wouldn't be able to save her either.'_

But even as he walked through the gates of Aquios and into the forest, his heart was telling him differently.

**X**

It's been nearly two months since Nel had seen Albel last, and she was a wreck. Everyday she woke up thinking he would be asleep in her chair or at her bedside, but found that he never was.

She paced the halls of the Aquios Castle, thinking about the precious few days they'd spent together on the mission. Her Queen had been refusing to assign Nel to any missions lately, suspecting that Nel would be unable to focus enough on her task and would get herself seriously injured as a result.

Clair was the only person Nel had trusted enough to tell of her heartache over Albel. Her best friend had merely smiled sadly and brought Nel in for a hug, whispering a gentle "I thought so." in her ear.

Finally, on a cold winter day, Nel was summoned to the Throne Room by the Queen. Nel walked in slowly and kneeled before the Queen. "How may I assist you, your Majesty?"

-"Lady Nel, I require your assistance. I have a letter for the King of Airyglyph regarding product transportation to their kingdom during the harsh winter weather. Could you deliver this to him?"

Nel remained silent.

-"...Nel?"

-"Yes, your Majesty. I shall deliver the letter."

-"Thank you Nel, that is all. May Apris be with you."

Nel got to her feet and approached the throne. The Queen handed her a plain white envelope that was sealed with red wax, the King's name neatly written on the front. Nel bowed silently and turned, walking out of the throne room and down the hall without another word.

-"She seemed rather absent minded, don't you agree?" The Queen said softly. Laselle stepped forward so he stood beside her throne.

-"I think she is upset by the fact she might encounter Sir Albel Nox. We both know how she hates the man." he voiced his opinion. The Queen thought for a second before responding.

-"No, I do not think that is the case. She has been rather out of character ever since coming back from her last mission, in which she was accompanied by Sir Albel Nox...I'm thinking that something happened between the two of them to cause her this grief, and she does not wish to confront him again."

Laselle nodded. "Perhaps you are right, your Majesty."

**X**

Nel trudged through the deep snow of Airyglyphian mountains, arms tightly wrapped around her upper torso and scarf pulled up over her nose. The wind blew in gusts, picking up snow from the ground and whipping it at her exposed skin. _'If this storm gets any worse, I'll have to find shelter and wait until it passes.'_ she thought, glancing around for any kind of cover from the harsh winter weather.

Nel had been traveling all day, and was nearly to her destination, but this snowstorm has set her progress back by over two hours.

A violent gust of wind jumped up out of nowhere, nearly blowing Nel right off her feet. She quickly regained her footing and withstood the blast. Snow attacked her from all directions, stinging like needles as it hit exposed flesh. She bit her cold lip and continued onward, even slower then before.

'_I need to find shelter, I need to...find...'_ Her thoughts broke off as she felt her knees give out. Nel fell to the ground, flinching as cold snow surrounded her bare legs. _'I have to get up...'_ she thought weakly, trying to stand, but to no avail. _'No...'_ Her whole body collapsed, the side of her face hitting the snow covered ground. "No..."

And everything went black.

**X**

Nel slowly welcomed consciousness, faintly aware of the cloak she was wrapped in and the sounds of a burning fire nearby. Her eyes fluttered open and she weakly sat up, pulling the warm material closer to her cold body. She seemed to be in a small cave, the open entrance showing her that the blizzard was still at full.

Nel looked around, noticing the brightly burning fire in front of her...and the man sitting behind it.

-"It's about time you woke up."

Nel's heart skipped numerous beats, but her eyes narrowed at the sight of him. "What are you doing here?" she asked rather shortly.

The man smirked. "Is that really the proper way to talk to the person who saved you?" Albel Nox asked, returning her icy glare.

-"I never asked you to pull me out of that blizzard."

-"Ah, so I was supposed to leave you out there? My mistake, leave now if you'd like, the storm is still at full, if not worse now." Nel just glared at him, making no move to leave . Albel smirked. "That's what I thought."

-"You lied to me." Nel blurted suddenly, her emotions breaking through the barrier she'd put up upon seeing him. Albel looked away.

-"I don't know what you're talking about." he said quietly, but forcefully.

-"Don't lie to me. You promised you'd come back, why didn't you?" Albel didn't respond, staring at the ground beside him silently. Nel clenched a handful of the cloak that covered her back in her fist. "I want an answer in the least, Albel. Why didn't you come see me?" She managed to keep her voice calm as she asked him again.

Albel didn't meet her gaze, scared that his eyes might portray more emotion than he wanted her to see. "It's none of your concern..."

-"That's a lie." Nel said coldly. "I have every right to know." She tried catch his eyes, but they were hiding behind his bangs.

Something deep in the back of her mind clicked just then, and her face softened considerably. "That's it, isn't it?"

Albel looked up at her sharply. "What?"

-"You're scared of letting anyone in, that's why you ran away."

Albel growled low. "I am _not_ scared of anyone, and I did _not_ run away, fool!"

Nel merely smiled. "And now you're getting upset because I figured it out."

Albel looked away from her. "You don't have any idea what you're talking about, woman."

Nel stood up, letting Albel's cloak fall from her shoulders. She walked around the fire and kneeled down in front of Albel, who was watching her now.

-"What are you...?" he started to ask, but stopped short when he felt Nel gently pull him up to his knees and wrap her little arms around him in an embrace. His face went hot, realizing how close she was, and his heart went into overdrive.

-"You don't have to keep pushing away. You need to learn to let people in." Nel whispered softly in his ear.

-"...It's not that easy." he said in a small voice, after a moments pause. "Everyone who I've ever let in have gotten hurt or killed..."

-"You can't let the past haunt you forever."

-"I wasn't strong enough to save my father-"

-"You were young, Albel. Stop giving yourself a hard time about things you couldn't control. It's not your fault."

-"But," Albel paused, knowing full-well that his defenses had crashed as soon as he'd seen her out in the blizzard. "what if I'm still not strong enough? I would never be able to live with myself if someone else-"

-"Albel." Nel pulled away just enough so they could look at each other. "You've saved my life more times then I can even remember, you defeated Crosell, you even helped in the saving of the whole universe!" she paused to smile at him. "Believe me, you're strong enough, stronger then anyone else I know."

Albel simply looked at Nel for another moment or two before a small smile graced his lips. "I suppose you're right."

Nel chuckled. "As usual."

Albel raised a mocking eyebrow. "What is that supposed to mean?"

-"That I'm usually right."

Albel rolled his eyes. "I beg to differ."

Nel drew away and lightly slapped his shoulder. "You shouldn't talk, I just saved you from a lifetime of unhappiness."

Albel reached over and drew her back into the embrace. "I'm assuming you're looking for some form of thanks, then?" he said jokingly, running his good hand through her hair. Nel melted in his arms, smiling happily as she rested her head on his chest.

-"Being right here with you is thanks enough." she whispered, shivers running up her spine as Albel brushed his claw up and down her back.

-"I don't know, I think you could do better."Albel said softly and pulled away slightly.

Nel just caught a glimpse of his beautiful red eyes before he dipped his head down low. His lips gently touched hers,...and her world exploded. It was soft and sweet, all his emotion for her becoming apparent as he gently pulled her closer once more. She slowly kissed back, running her hands up his arms to rest behind his neck.

They stayed like that for another minute before pulling away. Nel gently rested her head on his chest once more, listening to his heart beat loudly. "You know I love you, right?" she asked softly, enjoying the heat his body was providing for her.

Albel remained silent, but his heart beats became faster. "I knew, but it still feels amazing when you say it." he whispered, pulling her closer. He felt the redhead smile against his chest, and quickly felt himself smiling too. "And just to set the record straight, I love you as well.."

Nel smiled softly, her heart racing at a brand new speed. "You're right, it does feel amazing when you hear it."

They both pulled away enough to lock lips once more, neither of them noticing that the blizzard had passed by quite a while ago, the sunlight streaming into the cave, showing both Albel and Nel the promise of a bright, happy future together.

**The End**

**MelanieStar**

* * *

**Well, that's it everybody! It's over. The end...**

**...However! I've already started another AlNel story! It's called The Things We Keep Inside. It's much like this one, so if you enjoyed this, check it out! I've got one chapter already posted, and the others are on the way. It's going to be a lot shorter than this story, however.**

**Anyway, THANK YOU TO ALL MY REVIEWERS! I love you all very much and hope to hear from you soon!**

**I'll Be Back!**

**MelanieStar**


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